Three Little Kittens
by Cas42
Summary: A prequel set in the Konoha Children's Crusade Universe. Written for a friend and starring her OCs. If it feels like you've been dropped into the middle of a larger story Arc at times, that is probably why. I think it's a good tale regardless. This story deals with violence, language and sexual themes. It's rated 'M' for a reason. Mature readers only.
1. Chapter 1

**Three Little Kittens:**

 _The members of the clan came into the clearing little by little, in small family sized groups. A handful of parents were herding their cubs before them, nudging them forward with lowered heads, tails swishing in the cooling evening air. Some tugged on reluctant hands, making promises over complaining voices that the gathering really would be interesting this time. As was tradition, everyone who took a seat around the fire pit made sure they were in their two footed shape. The storyteller, anxiously waiting in the shadow of a nearby tree, never could get a straight answer from any of the elders why this was a tradition among her people. The best she could figure out was that one needed hands and fingers to build a proper fire… paws just wouldn't cut it._

 _The noise dropped somewhat as the matriarch was led into the clearing. She hobbled in, holding on tight to the elbow of her daughter. The Crone made her rounds, sharing a quiet word with an adult here, greeting a child there, making the appropriate cooing noises over the newborns held up for her blessing. She arthritically dropped to her knees and signaled for the fire to be lit. The wood was dry and the bonfire quickly grew._

 _Three enormous logs were tossed into the blaze in a great shower of sparks, and then the crone turned. Her bright eyes bored into the flickering shadows and with a curl of her hand, summoned the storyteller forth._

 _The girl exhaled a breath she didn't realize she had been holding and nervously stepped into the edge of the firelight. She paused as the cubs squished over to make room for her. She adjusted her flowing skirt and sank down into a cross legged position._

 _She was young, barely into her teens. While all the children had seen her before, lurking around the edges, making sure no bored cubs wandered off, this would be her first time addressing the group. There was more than the usual whispers and nudging from the gathered group of young ones. A few of the wilder boys openly made mocking jokes, while the girls ignored her arrival in favor of carrying on, prattering about their own preteen issues._

 _From the other side of the firepit the Crone caught her eye and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. This gathering had been the Matriarch's idea. "The youngsters of the clan are growing complacent," the wizened woman had said to the storyteller that morning. "I think it is an opportune time that they heard a new story… something to shock them back to realities of what our life once was." The storyteller was staring nervously at the ground, but she still felt the Matriarch's eyes burning through her. "Your story to be precise."_

 _The young teenage girl, soon to be a storyteller for the first time, swallowed. "But Honored one.. I don't think…"_

 _The Crone pretended she did not hear. "They need to be reminded that while we have been safe in our valley for as long as their short memories can recall… that this was not always the case… they need to be reminded that those dark days and ones darker still can come again with no warning."_

 _The young woman looked down at her feet, shaking slightly. "I can't Honored one… It's… it's too soon."_

 _The crone reached out and touched the soon to be storyteller on the shoulder. The girl's tremors stopped. "I know it is hard child, but time passes whether you are ready for it to... or not," the matriarch said kindly. "Some things should be shared. Children need to learn, adults need to remember… and sometimes… sometimes we only begin to heal when we share our pain with others."_

 _The storyteller stared at each child in turn, willing them one by one gently into silence. Eventually there was just one chatterbox remaining, a burly young male with bright red hair. He resisted all her attempts to get his attention. Finally, the crone herself leaned over and flicked him one on the ear. He yelped and spun to curse out his assailant, only to find himself staring into her beady black gaze._

 _The boy got the message, albeit reluctantly. He folded his arms and turned all of his scowling attention to the storyteller._

 _She took one deep breath to settle herself, and then took another to begin._

" _Most of you have gathered around the fire for stories before," she said in a clear contralto that carried beyond the light of the flames, out of the clearing and into the very forest itself. "Most of you know by now that the tales we tell here are supposed to teach you lessons. How to hunt, how to be clever," she turned and smiled at a very young girl cub, whose green eyes were jealously eyeing her mother's lap, a spot occupied by her twin sister. "How to be generous and fair to our siblings... How to respect our elders," She said with a polite nod to the Crone before turning back to her audience. "Most of you are probably also asking, 'What is there to learn from a girl who is barely older than the rest of us? She is practically a cub herself!'"_

 _The storyteller hunched her shoulders and bowed her head. The licking flames cast dark, dancing shadow across her face, twisting her features. "I was asked to speak, because tonight's tale doesn't have a hidden lesson… tonight's tale is about blood and death and war. Tonight's tale is about how unkind life outside the boundaries of our clan lands can be. Tonight's tale is about three sibling cubs, a lot like yourselves, who were sucked into the cruelty of the world with nothing to depend on but each other. Tonight's tale is about how hard things can be when you find yourself lost in darkness."_

 _All the children were now staring at her… silent… wide eyed. This was clearly going to be unlike any of the usual stories they had heard so many times before. This sounded like one of the whispered conversations the adults would have and immediately stop if they noticed any cubs within earshot. The only noise that broke the silence was the crackle of flames as the logs burned higher._

 _The storyteller had their rapt attention now. She dropped the force in her voice, making it sound warmer, adding hope. "This is also a tale about how sometimes… when everything around you has turned to ashes and dust… when everything feels hopeless and you are trapped by despair… when you are surrounded by strangers and monsters… you should remember that there are still good people in the world."_

* * *

Yet another violent shiver wracked Mizako Namikaze's small frame. Every cell in her body was screaming that she was going to die. She tried to ignore it, and the double handful of snowflakes the howling gale viciously hurled into her eyes, and forced herself through the next snowdrift, using her body to carve a path for the others.

"Just keep moving." That was what Kira Inuzuka had said to her before they had parted ways after the battle, "You'll have to keep moving if the storm gets much worse. If you stop to rest for even a second, you just might not find it within yourself to start walking again."

As often happened, when she found herself exhausted but trying to convince herself to keep on going, she found herself marching on to the beat of that old Uzushiogakure song that Kushina always sang to herself. "...The tide comes in, the river flows to the sea and is gone, the rain is scattered by the wind… But the Whirlpool spirals on!" Mizako hacked at the notes with less than pitch perfect precision, but it kept her feet moving through the growing drifts.

The path she made was barely enough for Yuki, the taller of the two boys. He was being so brave, trying so hard not to let the terrors of the previous hours show. There was nothing he could do about the cold however, his tears of pain froze into glistening beads on his cheeks.

The snow was far too deep for the girl, Tohru. Mizako had to reach out with both hands in order for her to to be able to half climb - half swim through the icy mounds.

The last child, Kyo, had no problems crossing. That was because he was clutched tight in Ay's huge arms, having been unable to continue. He was wrapped up in the tattered remains of Ay's traveling cloak. Mizako hoped it would keep him warm… warm enough until they reached shelter… wherever that was.

"How is he doing Ay?" she called over her shoulder. The Raikage's son didn't answer, he just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Ay's face was a mask of stubborn determination, but Mizako knew him well enough by now to realize that was a sign he was in trouble. His eyebrows and goatee were frosted over, and his eyes themselves were unfocused. His gait was slow and plodding, which seemed so unnatural for a man known for his speed. Whether Ay's sluggish walk was due to the cold, the wound he had taken to his back, or the strange seal one of their masked assailants had placed on him, she couldn't tell.

That was why they were traveling through the blizzard in the first place, they needed to lose their pursuers. These masked attackers were hard enough to fight off at full strength, let alone wounded and trying to protect three children. The snow would cover their tracks, would cover the blood trail Ay was leaving behind. With almost no visibility in the storm, they would be able to vanish into the swirling snowflakes and make their way to the haven that was waiting for them back at Konoha… either that or find one of the roaming packs of Inuzuka hounds that were hopefully out... searching for them.

The problem was, the same attributes of the storm that were doing such a fine job of hiding them, were doing an exceptional job of hiding roads, landmarks, or anything else that might show her the right way back to the Hidden Leaf.

She couldn't feel her toes or fingers anymore. The tip of her nose felt like it was burning. "Yuki!" Mizako yelled loudly, to be heard above the gale. "Can you smell anything? We're looking a city… or for dogs!" The boy stared at her, dazed, half frozen from their trek. "Dogs! Can you smell them?"

Yuki stuck his nose in the air for a moment and then shook his head. She had been so sure they were going in the right direction."Ducking bell!" swore Mizako in her special way. As always, it felt like her sister-in-law was hanging right over her shoulder scowling disapprovingly at even that heavily modified curse. Of course, if real swearing could have actually summoned Kushina... or her brother, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

She shook her head to try to clear it. Mizako hated the cold. She hated it in the way some of her fellow kunoichi would hate snakes, or bats… or giant poisonous spiders. Right now, she could feel the cold seeping into her bones, freezing her blood, crippling her. She could feel it stealing her life, bit by bit. Right now, going out in this storm seemed like the worst idea ever. "We need to find shelter… and we need to find it quick!" she yelled to the boy. "Is there anything you can see or smell? Anything?"

Yuki hesitated, and then pointed off to their left. "Water," he said, his voice barely carrying above the storm. Hoping that this would somehow work out better than any of the other previous plans this day, Mizako grabbed Yuki in one hand, Tohru in the other, waved to get Ay's attention, and then trudged off into the storm.

After a few dozen meters, Mizako could hear the waterfall herself. It coursed over the side of a gorge leaving long streamers of ice feathering over the rocks before collecting in a turbulent pool. With any luck, this was one of the feeder streams for the main river that flowed through the heart of Konoha. For the first time since they started this mad rush away from the attackers, Mizako actually felt a small glimmer of hope that fortune might not have completely abandoned them... Through the white sheets of snow, she could barely make out a small building of some sort nestled near the wall of the gorge.

Mizako smiled, despite her fears that her face might fall off if she did so. The two children she was holding onto stumbled forward eagerly. She had to pull to hold them back. "Wait here!" she yelled to Yuki and Tohru. "We need to see if it's safe!"

It was a small shed. The roof hung lopsidedly over the front end, making a small porch that was crowded with a pile of firewood. The door squealed on rusty hinges when she propped it open to take a look inside. It probably belonged to a local fisherman or trapper, or possibly even a charcoal maker. It was dirty, thick with cobwebs and smelled strongly of must. Leaning up in one corner was a disintegrating net and a long bamboo pole with a three pronged spearhead held on by loose wire and a prayer. The floor of the hut was completely bare except for a small pile of charred wood, a small stool, a small blackened pot and a pile of old bones, scraps of fur, and ratty feathers. Mizako didn't care, after walking in the icy storm for the better part of a day it felt like a palace.

"Yuki! Tohru!" she called waving them inside. The two youngsters practically fell into the hut, they collapsed into a pile on the dirt floor, shoving their fingers into their armpits, teeth chattering loudly. Mizako felt a brief wash of relief at that; she remembered hearing from Kira Inuzuka that when you stopped shivering, that was when you were in trouble.

She went back outside to find what was keeping Ay. He was about fifteen meters off to the left. She saw his bulky silhouette, heading in a direction that would miss the hut entirely.

She had a moment of panic as a severe gust blew and erased the entire world from view in a swirling white cloud. Mizako screamed out his name, but the only response was the roar of the blizzard. Her first instinct was to rush out of the hut's doorway and haul him back here… The problem was if she left the safety of the hut, she might not be able to find it again. In desperation, she made a series of four hand signs and then held up one hand. Chakra began to condense in her palm, beading up into a small ball. The sphere went from swirling red and orange, to glowing bright blue, to a painfully glaring white. She contained the searing ball of energy for three heartbeats before letting it detonate with an ear splitting crack. The expanding shock wave of heat and light lit up the surrounding forest like a flare, flashing the falling snow flakes into wisps of steam

Ay stopped and turned his head, staring about in a dazed way. Mizako created another ball of chakra, and seeing the light from that, he started moving towards her.

Once out of the storm, he sat down heavily, Kyo still cradled in his arms. He looked so pale that Mizako couldn't help but go to him. He waved her off. "I'll be fine squirt," he grunted. "See to the children."

First she had to see to herself. With relief from the storm at hand, all the desperation drained away, letting her body remind her just how hard she had been pressing it, and how horrible it felt. A slight drop in temperature could make her fingers turn white. She always got sick at the changing of the seasons. What she had just gone through was her own personal version of hell… if it hadn't been for the fact that the three little ones needed her, and despite his repeated assurances, that Ay needed her, she might have given up and dropped, unmoving into a snowdrift hours ago.

She piled all the scraps of wood into a rough pile in the center of the room and made one more energy ball, as small as she could this time. The orb was about the size of her fingernail when she flicked it into the pile.

There was a loud pop and they now had a cheery little fire. Without a single word, everyone huddled around it trying to absorb every last nanojoule of heat.

She had no idea how much time passed, but she eventually noticed that Yuki and Tohru were fast asleep in the fire's warmth. That was one good thing about the hut being so small, it didn't take much to heat it. She had neglected to brush off her outer cloak and now it was soaked by melting ice and snow. She took it off and draped it over the rickety stool. Her inner cloak was still relatively dry, so she used that as a blanket for Yuki and Tohru.

Ay was dozing off. Mizako nudged him into something this side of alertness and then motioned that he should deposit Kyo in the makeshift bed roll with his brother and sister. Soon all three siblings were huddled together, snoring.

She cozied up to Ay. He smiled weakly and lifted one arm to embrace her. She noticed a rivulet of frozen blood just beginning to thaw and soak into the back of his torn vest. "Let me see your back," Mizako said quietly.

"It's fine Kitten," he rumbled in what he probably thought was a whisper. "Nothing but a little scratch."

She pulled at his arm and his face suddenly showed that carefully blank look that he made whenever he was concealing something painful. "Right," Mizako said with a frown, "just a scratch… Off with the vest and the shirt."

The monster's fang had sliced cleanly through the flak vest, and the shirt underneath was sporting a slowly growing red stain. When she finally managed to get the shirt off, Mizako sucked in a breath between her teeth.

The puncture was clean and deep, but the flesh around it was a massive red wheal. The skin around the edges of the hole was hard and hot to the touch. A wave of nausea ran through her and she quickly looked away… But staring at the huge spider web-like seal that covered his whole back was no better. Mizako swore she could see it slowly creeping a fraction of a millimeter at a time, spreading across his skin.

She turned back to the puncture; at least she could do something about that… maybe. Deep inside the wound she could see the slow pooling and spilling of blood. "I… um…" she swallowed and tried to sound like she remembered more from her basic first aid training than she actually did. "I think you might have cut a vein here… I... need to put pressure on this… or something."

Ay shook his head. "We don't have time… One of us should rest, while the other will need to set up a watch."

Mizako ignored him, positioning her hands and leaning forward, pushing her weight into him. "You do realize that even if the bleeding does stop, this stab wound is pretty deep, we're going to need some way to close it up."

He gave a pained cough that bounced around the walls of the hut. "It's adorable, short stuff, how you are so concerned about my appearance, but no one will notice a few extra scars. Leave it. We must guard our position."

Mizako shook her head. "No! We have to worry about infection."

She felt the muscles in his shoulders tighten as she pressed the cut closed. "Prioritize Mizako, first we have to see if we will survive the night… speaking of which," he turned his head and glared at her out of the corner of his eye. "That little sunburst jutsu was unbelievably foolhardy… even for you. You have no doubt alerted everyone in a kilometer radius to our position."

If Mizako herself had been feeling better, she no doubt would have realized that he must be feeling horrible right now... wounded, beaten, having to rely on her for protection... Ay's pride was hurt and that meant he would be angrier and surlier than usual.

However, the cold, the stress, the fact that once again Ay was admonishing her for doing something she felt was morally right… That whispering nagging feeling rose inside of her again… the one that muttered that maybe their relationship might not be as wonderful as she thought when it had that new shine on it… "Oh and I suppose then that I should have just let you wander off in the blizzard? Maybe waited till you fell in the stream? If you want to be a suicidal idiot and go out there and freeze to death be my guest, but right then you were carrying Kyo and I'm not going to let him turn into an ice cube with you!" She glared at him angrily as he turned away with a shake of his head. "No one in Konoha would desert a comrade in his hour of need!" she said acidly.

A scowl twitched at Ay's lip. "How very touching… open your eyes pip squeak. If everyone in your village is so high minded and honorable, then perhaps you can explain to me why they are trying to hunt us down and kill us!"

He flinched as Mizako pressed down harder. "They're lying… those masked shinobi are lying about everything… They have to be… You saw how they tried to trap me! They were trying to kill all of us! There is no way my brother would have ordered anything like this."

"Sometimes it amazes me how you could have survived this long with such a huge streak of sentimentality running through you," grumbled Ay. "He's the Hokage. Those in charge must give orders for all sorts of unsavory things on a daily basis."

"Not like this!" insisted Mizako.

Ay's chuckle turned into a cough. "Then what are you insinuating? That your brother does not have full control of Konoha? I saw the jutsu of the Nara, Akimichi, Hyuga and Gekko clans!" He turned his head to look down at the youngsters huddling under her cloak. "Anyway, you can call these three comrades if you want… But raggedy strays fits them better."

"Stop it Ay!" Mizako hissed. "We should treat them like our comrades! You know I'm right! You can pretend to be heartless all you want, but they need our help… and I know you agree. I've seen what you've done for them!"

"Call those whelps whatever you want, but all our troubles started the moment your foolish 'comrades' set their eyes on them," he grumbled back. "Just like a stupid Leaf shinobi… Jumping in before thinking with their heads… Ow!" he muttered as Mizako jabbed him with a finger.

"That 'just like a stupid Leaf Shinobi' comment sounded exactly like something your pig headed father would say when he's desperately trying to convince himself that Kumogakure is far superior to Konoha," Mizako spat angrily. "And whatever Minato-onisan may or may not know about this… this is nothing compared to some of the dirty underhanded stuff the Raikage has pulled over the…"

Ay spun under her ministrations and reached out, grabbing her shoulder with his good hand. "I've told you before…. stop disrespecting both the Raikage and my village!" he growled.

There was a frightened yelp from the floor of the hut. Both Mizako and Ay turned to find three pairs of golden eyes staring in horror at Ay from underneath the folds of Mizako's cloak. Yuki, Tohru and Kyo looked ready to either cry or bolt or possibly both.

Mizako brushed Ay's arm away and knelt in front of the huddling children. "It's okay everyone… everything is okay," she said soothingly. "We were just… arguing."

Tohru couldn't take her wide-eyed gaze off of Ay. "That wasn't arguing, you were both really mad… You were fighting! You said you weren't going to start fighting again!" she whispered accusingly.

Mizako shook her head and tried to give her a reassuring smile. "Oh no, we weren't angry… not really… Ay isn't… We … we've had a hard day and... I said some mean things, and Ay said some mean things… We might have been a tiny bit mad and we might have shouted for a little bit, but we would never hurt each other… see?" She crawled over to Ay and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "There… I'm sorry Ay. I shouldn't have hurt your feelings like that."

Three pairs of young eyes turned expectantly to look at the Raikage's son.

It took all of Mizako's self control not to burst into a fit of the giggles at the internal struggle being displayed on Ay's face. His first instinct was, as always, not to show a single sign of weakness… but it was crumbling under the wary eyes of the triplets. "I'm… I'm… sorry too Mizako… I… shouldn't have shouted."

"Now kiss her," said Yuki with all the finality of a judge passing sentence on a crime.

Ay's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Kiss her. You have to kiss her too. It's only fair," insisted Yuki. "She kissed you first right then."

Ay sighed, gently pulled Mizako to him, and planted one full on her lips. They stayed that way long enough for a hot flush to start creep over Mizako's body. Long enough to remind her how their... 'date' was so rudely interrupted by the previous days' events.

"Eww, gross," commented Kyo, his voice still weak from his injuries.

Ay broke the kiss off, noticed Mizako blushing and smiled at her smugly. "Alright… how was that for an apology?" he asked the three children under the cloak. There were three returned nods. "Good," he said in his bass rumble. "Now... go to bed!"

Yuki, Tohru and Kyo, immediately shut their eyes and lay down. Mizako crawled behind Ay and went back to putting pressure on his slow bleed. While her palms pressed downward, she used her nails to trace little delicate circles on his back. He leaned back under her touch. "We still should be setting up a watch schedule," he said in a worried voice.

Mizako grunted agreement. "We should… But you're hurt, I'm freezing to death, and there is still a raging blizzard outside… If there was ever a night to throw protocol out the window… It's tonight. Both of us… all of us need the rest."

Her touch was wonderful and the warmth of the cabin was making him drowsy. Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded his agreement. "I am sorry," he said sincerely, adding to his previous apology.

She nodded. "I know… I am too… it's been…" her voice trailed off and she sighed. "Oh muffins!" she swore. "All I wanted was to spend some time with you."

Ay grunted, an amused sound. "You are spending time with me."

MIzako removed one hand from the wound and poked him hard in the side. "You know what I mean," she said resting her head on his shoulder.

"That I do Kitten, that I do," he paused for a moment considering something. "Have I stopped bleeding yet?" he asked slyly.

Mizako checked under her hands. "Could be. It's certainly slowed."

"Good... then I'm healthy enough for this," said Ay. With his good arm he swept her around into his lap and began kissing her again. He started with her lips, slid along the line of her jaw to her ear and heard Mizako gasp with pleasure. His tongue flicked out and he kissed and licked his way down her collarbone. His hand worked its way under her heavy shirt and slowly crawled its way up her ribcage.

Mizako was torn between giving in to the flush of warmth that coursed through her, and smacking him for doing this right now. He sometimes picked the most inopportune times... She folded her palms around his head, while her fingers entwined themselves in his hair. "Ay!" she whispered sharply. "You have to stop!"

"Why?" he asked grinning. "Are you ticklish today?"

"No," Mizako hissed, turning his head slightly to the left.

It was quick but Ay just caught the faintest glimmer of gold as the triplets, who had surreptitiously opened their eyes just a crack to spy on the goings on, frantically shut them again and pretended to be in a deep slumber. "Hrn," he grunted in disappointment.

"It's alright," said Mizako, snuggling into his arms to stay warm. "We need the sleep more anyway." She tilted her head back and kissed him one last time. "Sorry this has been such a lousy date."


	2. Chapter 2

It hadn't seemed like it would start out as a lousy date. It had in fact started out as a wonderful, almost miraculous opportunity for the pair of them to meet. The Daimyo of the Land of Rain had 'requested'... yet again... that the five Daimyos of the five great nations meet with him to discuss 'the current situation'... namely that the five great nations were continuously using the land of his much smaller country as a proxy battleground for their greater conflicts raging in the shinobi world.

Somewhat surprisingly, the other Daimyo had all agreed to listen to his pleas, for once, and had packed up for their summit, dragging the five Kage from their respective shinobi villages with them.

It was a completely unexpected boon for Mizako Namikaze, younger sister to the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, and Ay, oldest son and heir to the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village, for they now had the chance for one last steamy tryst in their forbidden romance, before the winter snows filled up the valleys and closed down the roads.

Even better, with their respective watchkeepers away and up to their ears in politics, the two young lovers had more time than they knew what to do with. They decided to rent a larger house this time around… after all, they would have the better part of a week to spend in the quaint little village… all by themselves.

Mizako found herself almost giddy with anticipation at the thought. A week... a whole week! Just her and Ay! Talking and laughing and spending time together… doing things that any real couple would do. Far too often their budding relationship had been limited to a small handful of hours that they could steal.

But not this time. None of this short notice, over far too quickly, blazing hot romance nonsense… No… this time they were going to stretch out the moments and spend some quality time together. There were so many things that she wanted to do, like relax with him, cook meals with him, do things that a real couple would do. There were so many things that she wanted to ask him about, so many things she wanted to learn… what he looked like in the morning, whether he drank tea, or coffee, what books he liked to read… Did he even like to read?

They got to the house, shut the door and immediately started tearing off each other's clothes. Habits do not go away quickly.

They spend the better part of the day in each other's arms. Hugging, kissing, fondling, gasping with pleasure. By the time the sun was setting on the first day they must have made love at least five times. They giggled together, laughing over the fact that they had completely forgotten to stock the house with any sort of food, and rushed out to try and catch the tail end of the market, just as all the farmers were packing up for the evening. They did manage to find enough for a fast, simple meal… A meal which Mizako in her romantic enthusiasm offered... no, _insisted_ that she prepare.

Ay teased her about that disaster for the remainder of the evening and insisted he would take care of the cooking the next morning.

The second day started well enough, Ay would never be called a gourmet, but at least it was edible. Since they were both still sore from the previous day's activities and had plenty of time, both Ay and Mizako agreed that they should just spend the day relaxing, talking, having fun, and enjoying each other's company.

And that was when the problems started… well, not so much a problem as a sinking realization. Up until this point, Ay and Mizako's relationship was based on an incredibly strong physical chemistry. They did have a history together... They had met when they were caught together in an ambush by the Hidden Mist Village... and then there was that time that Mizako had averted war between their villages by rescuing the Eight Tails from rogue shinobi… but the time they spent in each other's company was hardly what anyone would call 'romantic'. Now, that they had finally admitted the attraction was there, their relationship consisted of a brief, steamy, secret encounter every week or two… They never had the opportunity before to actually sit down and behave as a couple.

In public, things got awkward very quickly. Under the watchful eye and iron fist of his father, Ay led a closely monitored, rigorously structured existence. He had been trained from an early age to espouse the Kumogakure shinobi ideals, strength and discipline. Chief among those disciplines was never to reveal information about the Hidden Cloud village to outsiders. The second among them was to be aware and ready for an assault at any moment.

While they were out and about in this small village, Ay never told a joke. He rarely smiled when they were together in private, but out in public… She could see the worried looks of the passerby. When she tried to go wandering, meeting the locals, he loomed just behind her right shoulder, scowling fiercely at everyone who came near. One local store woman eyed Ay and worriedly asked Mizako if he was her bodyguard. Another, extremely shifty looking villager, assumed he was a warden escorting her off to an unwanted marriage, or possibly even prison, and offered to help her escape for a mere ten thousand ryo.

When she tried to talk to him about his life in in the Hidden Cloud village, what it was like growing up there, what childhood friends he had, what he did for fun, he would get very quiet. It took all of her skills of persuasion just to get him to grunt out a one syllable answer. Worry began to eat away at her, the creeping fear that no matter how strong the attraction he felt for her was… he still viewed her as an outsider… a threat.

Mizako quickly settled on the possibility that maybe he was shy... uncomfortable… so she decided to try sharing something of her own. Laughingly, she told Ay the story about how she once got her hands on Kakashi's copy of "Make out Paradise" and almost convinced Gai to act out the romantic interlude on page 27… It had ended as a complete farce. It was one of her more embarrassingly funny moments.

However, instead of chucking with her, Ay's face remained a cold, stony mask. He then proceeded to tell her a story about his first relationship, an older, more experienced Hidden Cloud Kunoichi that had seduced him many years ago. Mizako tried to smile and nod and see it for the interesting tale from his past that it was… but she found herself feeling uncomfortable... jealous. She knew that she hadn't been Ay's first time, but still… The bed that night had none of the cozy comfort that it did the previous evening.

The third morning they woke up feeling better. There had been a frost during the night and Mizako had snuggled close to Ay for warmth. In his sleep he had obliged her, wrapping himself around her small frame like a blanket, her back pressed tightly against his stomach. They shared a few quick passionate kisses and very quickly one thing led to another.

"Good morning Kitten," he said softly, idly running his palm down the side of her nightshirt. He stopped when he reached the hem and his hand reversed direction, this time trailing up her bare thigh. "I trust you slept well?"

She answered him first with another kiss, and pressed her back firmly into his groin. "I slept very well thank you," she said in a very formal, teasing voice… happy that the awkwardness of the previous day was forgotten. "I am in your debt good sir, for keeping me warm… How can I repay you?"

"Hrn," Ay grunted, with an amused smile, slowly hiking up her night shirt. "I believe I can come up with a few ideas." She shivered under his touch. That always happened the moment he started touching her.

It was his hands. The feel of those fingers running up and down her body were all it took to make her face go flushed and to make her heart race. She loved the way they could change depending on his mood and the moment. They could be so gentle at times, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face with a knuckle. His calloused fingertips would trace slow whorls on her skin. Ay could press with just the right amount of pressure, enough force, that they felt like the rough sandpaper of a cat's tongue. Mizako would find herself gasping and squirming as they played over her breasts and dipped between her thighs. Then there were those moments he would hold her tight with iron strength, crushing her possessively to him, softly grunting with pleasure as he pulsed away inside of her.

Ay had pushed the nightshirt she was sleeping in up around her shoulders. One hand was tracing patterns on her belly, while the other cupped her right breast, her nipple growing erect under his caresses. The hot, curved length of his penis hardened against her squirming buttocks. Mizako reached around behind herself to grasp his member. She made a ring with her fingers and began to pump gently.

He began to press against her more insistently. "No," she whispered.

"No?" asked Ay, a little confused.

Mizako giggled. "I mean, let me turn over. I want to look at you."

She heard him snort, a pleased sound, as he slid to one side and gently turned her over. "Well?" he said in a husky voice. "You are looking at me."

Mizako reached up and caressed his face, smiling at the smouldering look he was giving her. Her Kumo lover. Never she would have guessed who fate would have thrown in her path, but here and now she knew he was all she needed, all she wanted. Ay. She mouthed his name silently and he answered in kind. His dark eyes were intent as he took on her face, the way her lips were slightly parted in need, her cheeks flushed with desire. The fact that he was the only one she had ever looked at that way, the only one she had ever shared those moments with, the one she had chosen over so many was still as mesmerizing as it was exciting. Ay kissed her on the lips once, and then moved his way down to her neck and over her chest, taking a small detour to swirl his tongue over each nipple.

His goatee tickling her hips, she spread her legs, waiting for him. She let out an involuntary gasp at the first gentle probing with his mouth, at the feel of his tongue, warm and wet.

Soon the room was echoing with her heavy breathing, her muffled squeals. When he started to use his fingers, she couldn't help arching her back and entwining her fingers in his hair as she called out his name. He was carefully moving them inside her, scissoring them back and forth, while his tongue worked her clitoris. He paused when she let out a deep moan. "Ay… please… I… want… I want you inside me."

Ay slowly sat up and looked down at her with a smug, self satisfied grin. "Weren't you paying attention? I was just inside you my little kitten..." Mizako gave him an amused smirk, wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and pulled him down.

Well... she tried to pull him down. Ay hovered over her for a brief moment, holding her up with his strength, grinning. He chuckled as her smirk turned to a playful pout. "Oh dear... It appears I have been ambushed," he said.

She kissed him as hard as she could, her tongue dancing against his. She could still taste the salty tang of herself on his lips and she reveled in it.

Slowly, Ay lowered them both down and positioned himself over her. "Are you ready Kitten?" he whispered. Mizako could feel his member thrum between them at the same rhythm as his heart, as eager for this as she was. Her labia were drenched, every feather light brush of his dick sent warm shivers into her stomach. She bit down on her lower lip and nodded. Ay took a breath and was slowly beginning to surge forward...

Suddenly they heard one noise sure to strike absolute horror into the heart of any shinobi mid-moment of forbidden passion with a ninja from another rival village.

It was a polite cough.

"Ahem… Excuse me," said a deep voice, "I don't mean to interrupt... things… but I need to speak to Mizako Namikaze right away." A small pug dog was sitting in the open doorway, giving them a disapproving scowl.

Ay sat up so fast he rolled off the mattress and bumped his head against the far wall. Mizako hurriedly pulled down her shirt. "Pakkun!" she said full of false cheer, her brain totally short circuiting with terror and dread that she and Ay had been caught, and did the only thing she could think of at the moment… which was to casually toss a blanket over Ay's crumpled form and pretend that there was absolutely nothing happening. "I'm... very surprised to see you!"

"Not nearly as surprised as I am to see you," the dog said in a gruff voice. "But that's beside the point… Kakashi needs you."

"Me?" squeaked Mizako, her stomach sinking into a sea of dread.

Pakkun shook himself. "Not you specifically. He sent me out to find any Konoha shinobi in the area for backup. He's declared a Red Seventeen." The dog stopped and gave Mizako one last frown before trotting away. "I'll be waiting for you out in the hallway… Oh, and you might want to put on some pants... I hear you humans are picky about such things."

Ay propped himself up on one arm. "Red Seventeen?" he asked, in a slightly dazed manner, the blanket sliding off his head.

Mizako started scrambling through her belongings, getting dressed and strapping on her shuriken holster and other assorted ninja great. "It's a distress call, used by the Leaf ANBU. It's only declared when a critical mission goes completely fudge-bunnies."

"Fudge-bunnies?" asked Ay incredulously. He knew by now about Mizako's swearing eccentricities to get around her sister-in-law's personal crusade against vulgarity, but he'd never heard her use that particular phrase before.

Mizako frowned at him. "You know exactly what I mean. It's considered an automatic order for any Konoha shinobi in the vicinity to drop whatever they are doing and give whatever assistance is required… I've never heard of Kakashi ever issuing one."

Ay watched her get dressed. "So… I guess that's it," he said with a sigh. He clambered up to his knees and began gathering his things. "I'll be going then."

Mizako hesitated slightly before buckling on her equipment pouch. "There's still a chance that this Red Seventeen call won't take too long… I could make it back and we could…"

"Kitten," Ay said firmly, "the ninken has seen us... it will report back to his master. Any hope we had about this little rendezvous remaining a secret is gone… Any hope we had about us remaining a secret is gone. It would be best if we separate... now," he said emphatically. There was a pregnant pause as Ay and Mizako stared at each other.

Mizako folded her arms. "Ay… look... This doesn't have to be the end of the world."

Ay smirked, but there was no humor in it. "Maybe not the end of your world… But once the Raikage finds out..." he trailed off ominously.

Mizako desperately pressed on. "Listen to me! If we really want this relationship to last, I bet we can…"

Ay rolled his eyes. "We can what?" Ay asked sarcastically. "Ask your brother and my father for their blessing? I'm sure they'd say 'Oh yes, our nations have been on the brink of war for the past ten years, but go ahead!' Don't be so naive, squirt," he snorted, the sound echoing off the walls. "I just knew that trying to maintain this… this... fling between us would be too much trouble," he muttered.

Mizako rocked back on her heels. "Too much trouble?" she asked, anger covering the hurt in her voice. "Too much trouble?! Don't you dare act like you're only going along with this because I asked you too! Remember buster, there are two people in this relationship! Two people standing here both of whom…"

"Hey!" barked Pakkun from outside the room. "I hate to interrupt things... again… but the Red Seventeen call? Remember that? Can you save your little spat for a better time? Like… Oh… When the safety of your fellow shinobi aren't at stake?"

Mizako spun on her heel, partly to leave, partly so Ay couldn't see the hurt on her face. She found herself pausing right at the door. "You know…" she stopped and cleared her throat. "You know how to get in touch with me… just in case you want to talk about this some more… if it isn't too much trouble." She used all of her speed to leave.

* * *

 _The storyteller idly pulled a burning branch out of the fire and blew out the flames on the end. She spun the branch in the air, the burning coals tracing a bright glowing spiral in the night. "I remember little about my parents," she said quietly. "My brothers and I were cubs, about the same age as the youngest of you when the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools fell. We were taken from the ruins by persons unknown. Our travels were long and far and none too pleasant. My first memories were of growing up in the household of a fat merchant who had his holdings on the coastline of Yugakure... I charitably call him a merchant… He was a slave dealer. Selling his wares to any who had the gold. My brothers and I… I suppose we were lucky that we were even kept together." She paused and looked out over the children's faces. "I never did find out what happened to our parents… I assume they were killed."_

" _The man who kept us when this story begins… he wasn't such a bad master… compared to some. He fed us and clothed us. We weren't beaten much or tormented. He had a large house and a larger garden in which my brothers and I were permitted free reign. We were given our meals in a small wooden house he had built for us on the grounds. We slept there as well. In truth, we hardly ever saw our master, unless he was entertaining some important guests of his. He would bring his guests around and we would greet them and dance and play… and if he wanted us to put on a full show… he would make us change." A wistful smile crossed her face. "'My little kittens'… that was what he would call us… when he was using our presence to make some subtle point about his wealth and power... to his customers," she finished, that smile quickly fading._

 _The storyteller looked around the circle at the faces. "Some of you might think that sounds like the ideal life. My brothers and I certainly did… Not having to hunt, not having to work. Not having to worry about the deep snows or going to bed with an empty belly. Being able to run in a big fancy garden day after day, and only having to sing the occasional song for your keep…" She paused… the red-headed cub was whispering something to his neighbor, but stopped guiltily when he felt her stare. The storyteller leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Let me tell you now young cub, that no matter how fancy the cage, no matter how comfortable the chains… when you are owned… you are less than nothing!" she spat in a sharp hiss._

* * *

 _One day, the master was entertaining men… important men… men he wanted the business of so very very badly. He summoned my brothers and I forth for the entertaining, curiosities for them to talk about over the course of dinner. He had us do our usual, dancing and singing. While we were moving about the outdoor feast, I caught a good look at this odd pair._

 _There was an older man and a younger. The older carried himself like a veteran warrior. His face was crisscrossed with scars, he was a missing eye. He was obviously the leader of this duo. Despite his reserved manner and soft words, we could smell the heartlessness and strength coming off of him. This was not a man to be trifled with._

 _His younger companion was pale of skin with a mane of dark silky hair. His fingers were long and dexterous. His speech and manner was dignified and proper but... odd… heavy on the silibants. Of the two, he frightened me more. He smiled all the time, a hungry, disinterested smile. A mesmerizing smile… It reminded me of a serpent… lying in wait._

 _Neither seemed all that interested in what the master was trying to offer. It was obvious that the negotiations were going very badly for him. That was why the major domo pulled the three of us aside and told us we were going to change._

 _We caught the snake man's interest as our shifts were taken away and we had to stand there in the garden, naked and shivering. His eyes widened as first my brothers, and then I, changed from our two footed forms into our four footed ones. We scampered and lept about the courtyard, cavorting through various hoops and statuary the master had installed there for such a very purpose. During our performance I noticed the snake man pull at the sleeve of the scarred man and furiously whisper something in his ear._

 _When our performance was finished, the master looked very pleased, the negotiations had resumed with a renewed vigor. We were sent back to our garden house with warm milk and a plate of sweetmeats._

 _The next afternoon the faceless men came for us._

 _Dressed in dark robes, faces covered by featureless bone white masks, they never spoke a word as they kicked in the door to our garden sanctuary and bound us with ropes. Kyo tried to attack them. In our youth he was always the wildest, the most fierce of us three. They beat him without mercy, far past what they needed to subdue a child. As they dragged us away, Yuki and I screamed out for the master, begged him to protect us, to save us… He only had eyes for the chest full of gold and gemstones the snake man was offering him._

 _We were collared. Thick bands of chakra absorbing metal were bolted around our necks. I saw Yuki attempt to change, to claw and bite his way free… the first punishing shock of the collar left him limp on the ground, unable to do anything but breathe. We were then thrown into a cage on the back of an ox drawn cart._

 _The snake man stopped to look us over before the cart hauled us away. "Amazing," he said with restrained pleasure. "Survivors of the Tsukuineko clan." He leaned forward, and his long tongue flicked out between his lips. "Do you know how rare you are these days? Do you know just how long I've been searching for viable specimens like yourself? And to think, I now have three little kittens all my own to play with._

 _He snapped his fingers. There was the cacophonic tinkling of little bells, followed by the padding of footsteps. A woman glided into view. Like the rest of our abductors, she wore a featureless, eyeless mask. Unlike the others, instead of a hood, she wore a wide brimmed straw hat, a monk's sugegasa. From the rim of her headgear dangled hundreds of small metal charms designed to frighten away spirits. "Majo-chan," murmured the snake man, "your master is most eager to see that this package is delivered to my research facility as soon as possible."_

 _The woman bowed low. "Then I shall place Tamago-kun in charge of the task Orochimaru-sama," she replied in a quiet husky voice. "He may be young, but he is very enthusiastic and dedicated to our cause."_

 _A frown flicked across the snake man's face. "A little too... enthusiastic at times," he said lackadaisically. "I would prefer that the children reach my laboratory… unspoiled... if you catch my meaning?"_

 _The woman bowed again. "Under normal conditions I would be honored to accompany them as well my Lord but…"_

 _"A capital idea!" said the snake-man, cutting off her protests. "After all these are hardly normal conditions. Someone of your caliber along for the escort would definitely reassure me." He gave her a cold smile as he turned. "I look forward to your arrival. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and prepare."_

 _I could smell the anger coming off the woman. How the snake man could bear to turn his back on her, I could not guess, but he must have had some sort of hold on her... or her master. The kunoichi known as Majo-san kept her wrath in check, maintaining her bow, until the snake man was well away. Her mask turned towards us in the cage. "So he wants you unspoiled does he?" she muttered. Despite my weakness from the beating and the collar, I cowered._

 _Majo-san straightened and made a casual wave of her hand, causing the charms arranged all around her to jingle. "Cover the cage with something, " she said in an imperious tone. "I don't want to have to look at their pathetic faces all the way back to the village." The other faceless men jumped to her order._

 _A tarpaulin was thrown over the top of the cage. A few moments later there was jolt and the cart started rolling. We were on our way. The jangling of Majo-san's chimes followed the cart, ringing out her presence for all to hear._


	3. Chapter 3

There are two basic types of combat that shinobi find themselves in.

The first is the stealthy quiet kind, where the hunter circles their prey in an ever decreasing spiral, getting ever so closer until they land the subtle kill, ideally before the target even knows his assailant is there… the kind where to the the typical civilian, it appears that a random person has just suddenly dropped dead.

Then there is the second kind, full of high powered jutsu… fire and lightning and wind and water and earth… the kind that everyone talks about for years to come, because the jutsu used in battle have redesigned the landscape.

As Mizako approached, this battle was definitely of the first type. Despite the palpable threat of menace hanging in the air, she saw both Kakashi Hatake and Kira Inuzuka standing in front of a sturdy wooden ox cart in a heightened state of readiness. Both had been in combat recently. They were showing numerous cuts, bruises and scratches, and both Kakashi's tiger mask and Kira's mink mask were chipped and showing signs of wear, but right now everything was calm… calm enough that they were holding a whispered conversation in the middle of the street as they actively watched the buildings and alleyways. Every so often a village person would slow in their walks and stare at the gaggle of dogs huddled under the large ox cart.

"Hey Kakashi!" Pakkun called out in a low growl, "You'll never guess who I found."

Kakashi turned, but Mizako could tell that his attention was elsewhere… while he was facing her, he kept his eyes on the surroundings. "Mizako-chan," he said politely. "I have to admit, I'm... a bit surprised to see you. What brings you way out here in the sticks? Some mission?"

She shook her head. "No… just… um… a little R&R."

Kira Inuzuka flashed her a quick smile. "Ho ho? I hope he wasn't that little." Kira was a relative newcomer to Konoha's ANBU forces. Recently, while accidentally snooping through her brother's office, Mizako had learned that Kira had been recruited for her exceptional ability to work with canines. She was on good enough terms with the Inuzka's whole pack of assorted canines that she could summon a huge proportion of them at once, provided she had the chakra. Despite Kira being two years behind her in the academy, Mizako had a very casual friendship with the raucously raunchy girl, partly due to her jocular nature, partly due to the fact that she was one of the few people in Konoha who was as short as she was.

"Huh?" asked Mizako, trying to look innocent.

Kira sniffed the air and grinned. "You're covered in sweat… and it isn't all yours Mizako-sempai. I'm guessing you got some recreation, but not a lot of rest." Like all members of her clan, she looked slightly feral, had a wild personality, and an amazing sense of smell.

Of course, just because they were friends didn't mean Kira wouldn't endlessly pry into anything slightly off-color that caught her interest. In fact, their friendship would only encourage her. Mizako knew that once Kira caught wind of any salacious goings on, she wouldn't rest until she had every last sordid detail. Mizako decided to quickly change the subject. "So Kakashi -sensei… You sent out the Red Seventeen call… what's the mission?" There was a brief moment of embarrassed silence. "What?" asked Mizako.

"The mission," started Kakashi reluctantly. "Well... the mission was to break in my new junior ANBU partner… you know the usual nonsense… see how she performs under pressure... pull off a few fake infiltrations, a few fake assassinations… that sort of thing…"

Kira snorted, "So Kakashi-sensei turns to me and says 'Hey! Do you see that big cart over there? Let's run a fake ambush / intercept scenario using that wagon over there as the target! We'll get into position and just let them roll on by… Nobody the wiser. "

There was a sigh from Kakashi. "Look... how was I to know that it was being guarded by jonin level shinobi?"

Kira raised an eyebrow. "Um.. . the fact that they were all wearing black robes and those creepy masks?"

"That proves nothing! They could have just been part of some minor religious sect," argued Kakashi with a shrug.

"Whatever Sensei," said Kira with a roll of her eyes. "Anyway... these guys make our practice ambush and before we know it we're under attack."

"Sloppiness on your part Kira," muttered Kakashi.

"Says the man who needed to unmask his sharingan to fight them off!" she insisted back. Kira turned to Mizako. "I'm telling you Mizako-sempai, these guys were good. Freaky good… A couple of them were good enough to go toe to toe with Sensei here… If I hadn't let loose with the dogs of war…" She waved a hand at the mob of dogs under the cart.

Mizako looked at the both of them, confused. "So… you won the fight then… right?"

Kakashi nodded. "Chased them off… barely. They're probably regrouping now."

"So… no offense Sensei, but why do you need help?" Mizako asked carefully.

One of the dogs under the cart whined twice and let out a quiet bark. Kira tilted her head, listening, and nodded. "Thank you Hime-chan… Kakashi-sensei?" she said, a note of concern in her voice.

"I heard," Kakashi said quietly. "Send out six nin-ken patrols, in a spiral delta pattern. We need to find out if they've missed any obvious ways out of town." He turned to Mizako and smiled. "You showed up just in the nick of time. We're being surrounded. These people are being very insistent about getting their cargo back." He patted the cart possessively.

Mizako's jaw fell open. "Wait… Their cargo? You... took…. their cart? This is their cart?" Kakashi nodded. "You stole it?! No wonder they're pursuing you! Well then... give it back to them!"

Kakashi, Kira and Pakkun all shared a look. "We can't do that Sempai," said Kira flatly.

"Why not?"

Kakashi flipped up the tarp that was covering the cargo bay of the wagon. He patted Mizako gently on the shoulder as she recoiled slightly from the smell, and then stared. "We're going to make a quick battle plan with the dogs. Join us when you're ready." He and Kira called the canines out from under the cart and began to dispatch them in pairs.

Mizako slowly crept to the side of the cart and put her hands on the side of the cage. Inside were two boys and a girl, covered in filth. Each was wearing a chakra restraining collar. All three looked listless and starved. One of the boys had been severely beaten, showing old greenish bruises and dry crusted wounds. She put her hand to her mouth in an unconscious gesture to muffle her cry of horror. Some noise must have escaped for three pairs of golden eyes cracked open to stare at her.

A wave of emotion crashed over her as she saw them looking at her, expressions full of mistrust and hurt… and also longing. These three desperately needed someone… anyone would do. She could feel their despair tugging at her… and she knew right then that she was going to protect them no matter what. She felt Kakashi and Kira return to her side, but she couldn't take her eyes off the children. "Who are they?" she asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "No idea… they either can't, or won't answer a single question. I couldn't tell you a single thing about them except they're terrified of us… I don't blame them really, they don't look like they're being transported willingly, and the way the gentlemen we took them from have put a great deal of effort into harrying us… it's clear that they really want them back. It's one of the reasons why I put out the Red Seventeen… I wanted a few extra people around to help out."

Pakkun sighed. "I keep telling Kakashi, the kids smell weird… but he doesn't believe me."

Kakashi looked down at his dog. "If there is something funny to smell about them, then you're the only one who smells it."

Pakkun rolled his eyes. "How many times do I have to tell you… You might be able to smell a man hiding in the bushes, I can smell what he ate for breakfast that morning."

"Really?" asked Mizako.

Pakkun gave her a scowl. "What is it about you people that you always doubt my nose? You want to witness the olfactory master in action? Fine! Your boyfriend crossed the border into the Fire nation two days ago. Before that, judging from the spices in the food, he was living in… mmph!"

Mizako clamped her hand over Pakkun's mouth. "Excuse us just one little moment!" she said brightly and carried the small pug to the other side of the cart. "Don't you dare say another word!" she hissed.

"What?" asked Pakkun in a hurt voice once they were hidden on the other side of the cart. "I was just going to say he must have had an extended mission in Kumo? He stinks like a native! I mean he must have been eating the food there for years to have built up…" Pakkun's voice trailed off as realization dawned. "Oh," he muttered quietly.

"Oh is right," hissed Mizako.

"So... then… that couldn't have been some sort of mission I walked in on, could it? Because I could smell the hormones in that room, and I was dead sure that the pair of you were way more into each other than a standard seduction mission would…" Again there was a heavy thoughtful silence. Pakkun scratched a claw in the dust of the road. "Um… does your brother know about this?"

"No," said Mizako coldly, "And there's no reason to let him know. Ay would never do anything to hurt me or Konoha."

Pakkun looked up. "Are you sure about that? Really sure? I mean his village is... kinda sorta maybe at war with us."

Mizako firmly shook her head. "He might be on the wrong side but he is an incredibly honorable man… He's saved my life twice! I know he would never do anything to endanger me or my village!" She looked down at the pug her eyes pleading. "So you don't have to say a word to anyone! Please Pakkun? Everything is under control."

Pakkun sputtered. "Under control? What part of that relationship is under control?" The pug dog shook himself. "Anyway, I swore an oath to uphold the safety of the village!"

Mizako gave him a wide-eyed pout. "Please Pakkun? I promise…Nothing is happening that will compromise Konoha."

Pakkun sighed. "I don't know about that," the dog grumbled. "I mean… humping your enemy… that sounds like you're begging to get swatted with a rolled up newspaper if you ask me." He looked up at Mizako's quivering lip. "Look, I'm not… unsympathetic. But I am kind of bound to report everything I saw to…"

"I'll give you half a kilo of steak!" Mizako blurted out.

Pakkun looked insulted. "A half kilo. Are you suggesting I would betray Konoha for a measly half kilo of steak?"

"A full kilo from the new barbeque place… cooked any way you like it." She knelt in the dust and stared at him with huge watery eyes. "Please Pakkun? Please, please, please? I swear, there is nothing treasonous about this… I know it sounds hard to believe but this is just two people… enjoying each other's company."

"Enjoying someone's company," said Pakkun with a sigh. "You make it sound like you're having a cup of tea and playing backgammon."

"Oh stop it," snapped Mizako with a frown. "You make it sound like you've never had romantic feelings before. I know you have… I've seen you chasing after Haruko Inuzuka's wolfhound."

"I think you're confusing being in heat with romance," the canine grumbled.

She stared at him. "You've never felt that special feeling? That moment where you know… you just know that you've found the right person?"

The dog scratched his ear, smacked his lips, yawned and went through a few more mundane things just to avoid looking at her. "Make it two kilos and you've got a deal," Pakkun finally muttered, clearly hating himself. Mizako restrained herself from whooping with glee and shook his paw.

Kira Inuzuka was eyeing them as they walked back around the cart. "What was that all about?"

Pakkun shook himself. "Mizako's a little shy... she didn't want me to say anything about her new boyfriend."

Mizako whirled on him. "Pakkun!" Shirt! The stupid mutt was going to betray her!

Kira grinned. "I knew it. So Pakkun, what's the scoop?"

"Well you see," grunted the dog, "Mizako was here in town because she was having a romantic rendezvous with the love of her life…"

"Pakkun! You promised!" shouted Mizako.

"... a big strapping farm boy. Nice enough for a human I guess, but not a hint of shinobi talent in his body," said the dog.

Kira looked up with a teasing grin. "Oh yeah? Buff guy huh? You'll have to tell me all about it. I'm a fan of the muscle types… I'm going to want details Sempai… and lots of them." Pakkun turned to Mizako and gave her a doggy grin and a wink.

Mizako had just enough time to feel a wave of relief wash over her, as the first of the nin-ken patrol returned. Kakashi knelt and listened to the dog's report. "We're in trouble," he said quietly. "Our masked friends have returned and brought plenty of reinforcements. It looks like we'll have to fight our way out." He looked thoughtfully between Mizako and Kira. "Mizako, you're driving, Kira, we're going to punch a hole through their line, then while you and your dogs lead the cart away, I'll stay behind to discourage any pursuit."

Mizako spared a glance at the ox hooked up to the yoke of the cart. It stared back at her blankly, slowly chewing on its cud. Then it belched hugely. "You want me to try to run through an ambush being pulled by that? Forget that! I'll carry them, even weighted down with the three of them I'll be faster than that thing!"

Kakashi shrugged again. "You can't. We can't get the cage open. There's no lock to pick, the door is held shut with some fuinjustu seal variant... they used a very complex one too… We've tried to break it and the only thing I can tell about it is that destroying it'll take more time than we have."

"Ditto with the cage itself," piped up Kira. "It's alloyed steel. We don't have anything to cut it, and any jutsu we have that would wreck the cage would catch the kids inside as well."

Mizako took a closer look at the door to the cage. Aside from the iron seal holding everything shut, it looked like an ordinary door. She put her hands on either side of the locking mechanism and smiled at the children inside. "Hi!" she said, her voice full of false cheer. "My name's Mizako! Don't be scared. I'm going to get you out of here… but you'll need to stand back, and… um... you'll definitely want to shut your eyes."

* * *

" _My brothers and I were as terrified of these new masked people as we were of the old faceless masked group. After all, the white haired shinobi with the tiger mask and the dog girl wearing the mink mask had managed to fight off four times their number in a most impressive fashion. The battle was a mass of fire and lightning and baying dogs. We weren't sure what they wanted with us exactly, but we were sure it was only a matter of time before the new beatings began._

" _By this point we were getting used to the charka restraining collar. It still dragged at our bodies, making us sluggish, holding us back, but it wasn't as bad as when they were first put on us. We learned from the faceless shinobi that the more lively we appeared to be, the more torments we could expect. So the three of us did our best to appear weak._

" _The cage door was held shut with a seal. Meaning that our original captors saw no need for a key. These new captors of ours did not know the code for the seal, so there was no way for them to open the door to the cage and get at us. What both parties did not know was that we of the Tsukuineko clan are very... talented when it comes to sealing jutsu."_

 _The storyteller brushed her bangs out of her face and adjusted her braids so they hung more comfortably down her back. "We didn't know that either at first. It was my brother Yuki who first figured out that we had that talent. Our previous master received many scrolls and boxes that were locked via fairly simple sealing jutsu. The scraps of binding ribbon were great sources of amusement to us as the breeze floated them around the garden. It was Yuki who first noticed the little 'puzzles' attached to each one and figured out how to lock and unlock them. All that practice made him much more skilled than Kyo and I with such things."_

" _Day after day, since the moment we were caged, Yuki would summon his strength and force himself to crawl forward to the 'lock'. Throughout our journey he would try to weaken the seal, little by little, piece by piece, until it would be holding the door shut by just the weakest threads. One good swipe of his claws would be all it would take to open the door."_

 _The storyteller shifted to a more comfortable position. "The three of us had talked it over. We decided that if an opportunity presented itself… Some time when our captors were... occupied, we would run."_

" _The problem was… the three of us were so encumbered by the collars that even with the door open, escape would be almost impossible." She shook her head. "Even without the collars we were weak from hunger and cold and the beatings the masked men put on us. There was one… the others called him Tamago. He was always laughing, his voice was always cheerful, but his cruelty seemed to know no bounds. He enjoyed watching others hurt us, but what he truly relished was when we cowered before him. Whenever he swung open the door to the cage, Kyo would deliberately provoke him. That was my brother Kyo, always trying to ensure that Yuki and I would be spared." The storyteller swiped at her eyes. "Always pretending that nothing ever hurt him."_

" _Once we reached the small village, the white-haired shinobi and the dog girl were joined by another kunoichi, a young woman with braids. She had sympathetic blue eyes… bright blue… eyes like those of a member of the Pard, but we could tell she was no member of the clan. She told us not to be afraid. She told us she was going to open up the cage and then her friends were going to take us back to their village." The storyteller gave a snort. "Hah! My brothers and I, we knew by now what shinobi thought of our kind."_

* * *

 _This braided woman, she warned us away from the door. I almost played dumb, refusing to move, but Yuki caught my eye. He and Kyo were ready to put a plan into motion. The woman's hands glowed like the sun. The door metal hissed and spat, covering up Yuki's insistent whispers._

" _There!" the girl with the braids said with a smile, as the glowing iron seal dropped to the floor of the wagon and the door creaked open. "If we just wait for the door to cool a bit, we'll have the three of you…" She didn't have a chance to finish as Yuki, Kyo and I threw ourselves through the open cage. There was a moment of radiant heat as we passed the doorway but that faded in the blissfully chill air._

 _Yuki and Kyo… they… we were too weak to run, and they knew that. They were perfectly willing to distract these new shinobi long enough to allow me to escape. They threw themselves in the way of the tiger masked shinobi and the mink masked kunoichi, while I sprinted away as fast as I could._

 _I was so frail. My brothers and I hadn't been fed much. Kyo had tried to take the brunt of the random beatings for Yuki and I, but we had had our share of atrocities as well. I said how the faceless man, known as Tamago, seemed to take a particular pleasure in our suffering, but the others spared us no kindness, even if they didn't enjoy it, they had still beaten us regularly and methodically... I ran from that cage with all my heart… but even if I was perfectly healthy, it wouldn't have been fast enough._

 _The braided woman could move like the wind. She kept pace with me easily. "Slow down!" she insisted, reaching out for me. "We're not going to hurt… Ow! You little shovel!" she spat. I had raked my two legged nails across her hand. Good thing for her... if it weren't for the chakra collar I would have shifted and used my four legged claws. I used the falter in her stride to dodge into an alley. I only idly wondered why she called me a shovel."_

 _It was dimly lit, piled high with refuse, and a dead end. With her footsteps approaching behind me, I dove in between a pile of decaying vegetables and a barrel of stagnant water and curled up into the smallest most unobtrusive ball I could._

* * *

 _The storyteller smiled and surveyed her audience. "Was that a good way to hide?" she asked almost playfully. There was a chorus of 'No's. "Can anyone think of a better place?"_

 _There were several shouts of 'In the water barrel!' The burly red haired cub bellowed out 'climb up the walls!' His friend reminded him that the girl in the story had a chakra collar on and couldn't use her claws to climb. The storyteller smiled as the little green-eyed girl cub frantically waved her hand. "Yes?" she asked the girl._

" _Hide in the stinky vegetables!" the cub proudly proclaimed with half a lisp. "Nobody would look in there!"_

 _The storyteller laughed. "Those were all good choices… better than the ones I made. For I was trying to hide from a kunoichi, and they are very crafty and wise. I'm glad to see that you are all much smarter than I was!"_

* * *

 _The braided woman found me very easily. I was expecting a kick, but instead she just crouched down next to me. "It's okay," she said in a soft soothing voice. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to take you back to your little friends… okay?" She reached out again for me._

 _As she was reaching, the shadows in the alleyway moved. I pressed my back up against the woodwork as long snake like cords slowly crept through the alley. "Hey hey hey," the woman said, unaware of what was happening behind her. "Nothing is going to happen. You're safe now. My friends and I will make sure nothing at all…" The shadow snakes struck and she froze like a statue._

 _One of the faceless men stalked into the alleyway. I took one look at him, whimpered and tried to run. I was also snagged by a rope of shadow and my whole body locked tight. The faceless man made a long series of shinobi hand signs and pulled back on the shadow, dragging me back into the depths of the alley. I was still bound in place, unable to move anything but my eyes._

 _Our captor spent a moment studying the braided woman, as if something about her puzzled him, but then he shrugged and pulled a short tanto sword from a sheath on his left shoulder. He stepped forward and brought the blade around to the woman's neck._

 _The air sizzled white hot and the sharp stink of ozone filled the alleyway. A muscular young man blurred into the alley and buried his fist in the faceless man's stomach. The sword clattered to the ground as the faceless man doubled over. This new person seized the faceless man about the waist, spun him in the air and slammed him headfirst down into the ground. Instantly the binding hold on me was released. I took a handful of running steps towards the alley mouth and then abruptly stopped._

* * *

 _The storyteller fell silent. The pause was long enough that the children gathered around the fire started giving furtive glances to each other. Eventually it was the red headed cub who worked up the courage. "Why?" he asked._

" _It was something the newcomer said... He helped the braided woman to her feet and sighed. 'My poor little kitten,' he murmured with a mix of sarcasm and tenderness. 'What would you ever do without me? It looks like you do need a knight in shining armor to protect you after all."_


	4. Chapter 4

Mizako's storm of relief and glee that Ay had shown up in the nick of time vanished like frost in the morning sun. "You be quiet!" she snapped angrily. Why did he always have to tease her? The big lunk knew how sensitive she was about all the issues her body had shaping and controlling chakra. "I do not need any sort of bodyguard!"

Ay's grin only grew. "Of course you don't… I'm sure your friend here," he gestured to the masked shinobi, "who had you caught in his shadow binding jutsu merely wanted to desperately ask about the five star accommodations in this farming town." Ay stopped and his grin faded as he noticed the ragged girl staring at him with an open mouth and wide eyes. "Who's the brat?" he asked with a nod of his head.

There was the ring of metal on metal from the street beyond. She heard the screams of a few villagers and the snarling of dogs. The street shook as the thunder of an explosive tag filled the air. It looked like this particular shinobi battle was rapidly going from the first sort to the second. "Shirt!" spat Mizako. "Kakashi and the others are under attack!" She pointed quickly to the girl. "Keep an eye on her! I've got to go help them!"

"Help them? Others? Mizako, just what is…" Ay's voice trailed off as Mizako became a blur of speed. He looked after her uncertainly and then shifted his gaze down to the girl. He sighed. "Right… Okay… So, little girl… just who the hell are you anyway?"

The battle hadn't quite reached the scenery altering stage… yet. There was a smoking crater where the ox cart had been. That must have been the target of the explosive tags she had heard earlier. Kakashi was dueling with short sword and kunai against a pair of shinobi wearing the same smooth masks and dark robes of her assailant in the alley way. A small horde of summoned ninken was swarming over the street, bounding up and over walls in pursuit of three other masked shinobi. Kira was standing over the two boys, her tekagi shuko fighting claws entangled in a kusagari cable. Mizako decided to help her first.

She pulled a kunai from her holster as she tore across the wide street. First Mizako ran towards Kakashi's opponents until she was in the masked kusagari wielder's blind spot, then she skidded, rolled to change direction and bolted for the back of Kira's opponent.

Mizako was fast, but small. She didn't have the bulk or the strength to go toe to toe in melee combat. A single landed strike was usually enough to do her in. If she had to fight, she did it either at a distance or with surprise on her side.

She was intending to hamstring her opponent. Leave him alive for questioning later. There was no way he could have seen her coming. She was completely in his blind spot and she was almost moving at her top speed, which she knew meant she was little more than a blur. However, somehow, just before her kunai fell, the masked man managed to turn, just enough for Mizako to miss the tendon. She did take a large enough chunk out of his thigh that it threw off his balance. Kira yanked on her claws and he went tumbling over. The Inuzuka girl snarled and fell on him.

By that time Mizako had left the pair of them far behind. She was up the wall and on top of the roof to get a clear shot at the pair of shinobi fighting with Kakashi. Her hands flipped through a series of signs and then she was holding a tightly compressed ball of flickering flame. Her ranged fire attack wasn't as impressive as the standard grand fireball jutsu, but she could throw it with a considerable accuracy. Right now, fighting in tight quarters, in a village packed with civilians, accuracy was probably better than destructive force.

Her first fireball caught one of Kakashi's attackers right between his shoulder blades. The force of it picked him up off his feet and he went tumbling into a nearby storefront, shattering the bamboo shutters.

Her next fireball missed completely, as did her third and fourth. Mizako began making them and throwing them nearly at random, barely taking the time to aim, trusting that Kakashi's sharingan would give him enough warning to dodge them. However, this second attacker of his moved with a fluidity and a grace that seemed to mirror Kakashi's own.

A high pitched whistling caught her ear. She ducked behind the peak of the roof, narrowly avoiding a salvo of shuriken. At least three different shinobi were sniping at her from the top of a general store across the street. She made another fireball and tossed it at them, but had to duck before she could properly aim.

Mizako was considering her next move when a huge shadow blotted out the sun. Not even bothering to check behind her, she started to move. There was a battle cry and the roof exploded.

It was a giant. It had to be a giant. This new masked shinobi must have been almost ten meters tall. He pulled his gargantuan fist out of the wreckage that used to be a house and plowed his way through the adjoining building. Mizako made a quick series of fireballs and started hurling them at this new monstrosity. The enormous man just chuckled deeply as they exploded, one by one harmlessly against his chest. The ground shook as he took a step towards Mizako and raised one giant boot, plainly planning to squash her like a bug.

Mizako paused and focused her chakra as the foot came down. As she did so, there was also a hot tingling sensation from the scar on her chest. That old wound she received during that time she tried to rescue the Eight and Five tails would often ache in her chest at the most inopportune times… whenever she was angry or upset or… well… in the middle of something intimate with Ay. She wasn't sure that was normal, but she didn't want to bother anyone about it… As a genin, she had the reputation as being too small and weak to take on any 'real' missions, and she never wanted people to look at her that way again. Besides, the weird tingle feeling didn't seem to be doing any harm so she usually just ignored it. The ball of fire she was holding flared to a painfully bright white incandescence. Just as the sole of the giant shoe was about to graze her hand, she released the sunburst jutsu.

The resulting explosion lifted the giant up and flat on his back. He crushed a row of houses as he fell. Mizako bent over, the world spinning. The sunburst jutsu was one of her most powerful attacks, but they drained so much of her constrained chakra reserves so very quickly that they always left her dizzy. She happened to glance over at the giant and froze. As he lay there unconscious he started to shrink, becoming merely the size of a very large man. The reduction in size did nothing to stop the flames smouldering on his left boot and leg.

Her head swam... As she paused to catch her breath, something clicked in her head. The shinobi in the alleyway used a shadow binding jutsu. This one looked to be using an expansion jutsu. Those were Nara and Akimichi clan jutsu… were they fighting Konoha shinobi?

"Mizako!" She spun at the sound of the shout. Kira and four enormous, slavering hounds were going toe to toe with three of the masked shinobi. The problem was, two other shinobi had entered the street from the rubble strewn gap created by the giant and were heading straight for the two young boys. Mizako took a deep breath and accelerated to her full speed.

She made it there first, but only barely. Mizako skidded to a halt in front of the children and raised both of her hands, crackling with fire. "Stop!" she yelled. "Are you Leaf shinobi? We can talk this out!" Neither one of the masked men slowed in their advance. "I'd rather not have to burn you!" she warned. "Please… stop!" They readied their weapons. The first produced a pair of kama while the second drew a katana.

"This is your last warning!" yelled Mizako. She concentrated and both assailants were surrounded in a shimmering dome constructed of bands of orange flames. "Stop where you are right now, or I'll burn all the air in the dome killing you both!" Thankfully, both men finally did stop. They started to lower their weapons. "Good," said Mizako, breathing a sigh of relief. "Now maybe we can…"

There was the crackle of electricity behind her. "Ay! Go away! I have everything under control!"

"Are you sure about that Mizako-chan?" asked Kakashi mildly. Mizako turned her head just enough to look behind her. Kakashi sensei was standing there ramming his chidori into an indistinct, man-sized shape. As the thing on the end of his arm thrashed, the blurry outlines and seeping colors began to fade away, revealing a masked shinobi. One of Kakashi's hands was around through the shinobi's shoulder, the other was clamped around his wrist, slowly twisting his arm at the wrong angle in order to get him to drop a kunai. "The only reason these two here didn't charge was so that this one could have a chance to stab you in the back," he stated in a conversational tone. He kicked out with his foot and sent the masked shinobi sprawling at the feet of the other two. "If I were you, I'd go ahead and start setting those three on fire right about now," he said threateningly.

The two masked shinobi shared a glance. A low vibration ran through the street and an earth-style jutsu opened a hole beneath them. All three of the masked shinobi vanished from view. Kakashi blew out a breath and looked around anxiously. "Are you still trying to bluff your way out of fights with that 'Surrender or I'll set the air itself on fire!' jutsu Mizako?" He shook his head. "I keep warning you, someday, someone is going to call you on that... Are sure that you'll be able to do it?"

"Of course I will!" insisted Mizako with a bravado she didn't feel. "It worked just fine that one time on the training grounds."

"Uh huh… And how much burn ointment did you need before…" Kakashi's ANBU tiger mask tilted slightly as he looked over her shoulder. "Careful, we've got a newcomer to the field."

Mizako spun on her heel. "Where?" There, in the middle of the street, was a sheepish looking Ay… obviously mid-rescue attempt. Mizako couldn't help herself, she felt a brief giggle bubbling up seeing him there frozen, embarrassed. That faded when she caught sight of what he was carrying piggyback style… The raggedy girl was peeping over his shoulder staring at the destruction. "What are you thinking?!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger. "Didn't I tell you to stay with the girl?"

Ay frowned. "I did stay with her… she's right here," he said, gesturing.

"I didn't mean you should take her into a battle!" yelped Mizako.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well… I take it you know him then… So… Mizako… would you care to introduce us to this... gentleman?"

Ay glared at Kakashi, but before he could open his mouth, Mizako stepped in front of him, arms wide, as if she could hide his bulk behind her. "Who this? Oh… This is… Uh… Akira! He's just a… um… my… um...

"Hey Sempai!" howled Kira as she trotted over, dragging the two boys with her, "We'd better cut the chit chat and get moving! The ninken report that our little dust up here pulled in some of their reinforcements. We've got a clear road heading…" She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at Ay. "Well...hello-ooo there handsome!" she said in a low purr. "My name is Kira. I was born in the year of the dog. I enjoy cooking, long walks on the beach, close contact sparring, and… "

Ay stared at her, a look of supreme disapproval on his face. "What are you doing?"

Kira inched closer, close enough so that she was almost touching him. "Whatever you want me to," she said in a sultry voice.

"Kira, leave him alone," snapped Mizako.

"I don't think I can," said the younger woman, sounding like she was drooling behind her mask. She reached out with one hand. "Not until I make sure these biceps are for real!" Ay jerked his arm away.

There was the sound of galloping paws. "Guys, we'd better hurry," grumbled Pakkun. "We chased them off again, but at least half of the pack has been unsummoned. They're moving up some heavy hitters and believe me, we don't want to hang around when they get here." The dog glanced up. "Oh, look it's Mizako's boyfriend… You'd better run along sonny, the battlefield is no place for civilians."

"No! He needs to stay with us!" yelped the small girl clinging to Ay's back.

There was a moment as everyone turned to look at the girl… except for Kira, she was still staring at Ay. "Torhu!" yelled the shorter of the two boys. "We promised we weren't going to say nothing!"

"Oh.. so you guys can talk after all?" asked Kakashi. "That's nice… I don't suppose you could tell me what those shinobi wanted with…"

He was interrupted as the street exploded. The three masked shinobi who had vanished using the earth jutsu from earlier sprang out of the street in a cloud of gravel and grit. They dove at the girl and the two boys, weapons drawn.

Mizako caught up to the two heading for Kira and the boys in a flash. Her chakra was running low, but she still had enough for a distraction. As Kira pulled out her steel fighting claws to meet the masked shinobi's katana, Mizako raised her hand and set off a series of 'firecrackers'… smaller versions of her sunburst jutsu… right in their faces.

The bright flashes and explosions went off leaving their heads in a bubble of deafening sound. It was far too easy for Kira to trap his sword arm while Mizako kicked his legs out from underneath him. Seconds later the Inuzuka girl was astride his back, tying his hands with black cord. "Do you need any help over there gorgeous?" she called out to Ay.

Ay was holding the other masked shinobi up off the ground by his neck. He dangled there for a moment, kicking out with his feet, before Ay turned and slammed him down on the road.

Kakashi stood up from restraining his own opponent and looked down at the masked shinobi Ay had just chokeslammed into the street. "Hey Pakkun?"

"Yes Kakashi?

"I thought you said that Mizako's boyfriend was a civilian?"

Pakkun coughed in a slightly embarrassed way. "Did I?"

"No shinobi talent whatsoever' is how you described him exactly if memory serves," said Kakashi casually.

"Huh… I might have said something like that." The pug scratched an ear thoughtfully. "You know… Now that I think about it, I'm probably mixing up this guy with Mizako's boyfriend… I didn't get too good a look at him earlier… Yep.. not him… chalk it all up to confusion in the heat of battle… that sort of thing." Pakkun shifted uneasily. "Why do you ask?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Oh… I was just curious. I mean this gentleman right here is obviously a shinobi… he has definitely had combat training… And… Well... he's also a dead ringer for one of the Kumogakure shinobi in the bingo book."

Pakkun did his best to look innocent. "Is he really?" he asked incredulously.

Kakashi nodded again. "Yep… He looks exactly like the Raikage's own son as a matter of fact."

Pakkun stared up at Ay. "Wow… can you imagine that. What are the odds? That's an amazing coincidence!"

"Yeah," said Kakashi knowingly. "Almost as amazing as the self-proclaimed 'most sensitive nose in all Konoha' not being able to tell two 'separate' people apart."

Pakkun opened and shut his mouth a few times. "Dammit," he swore in a low whine.

* * *

 _After the girl with the braids left the alley, the goateed man and I spent a moment eyeing each other. "Not going to talk, eh?" he grunted. "Wise move. A good shinobi never volunteers information if they can help it." There was the sound of clashing steel out on the street, and there was the slightest change in the tension of his shoulders… as if he was refraining from charging out into the fray. "Far too many adversaries here… and they are far too skilled to be ordinary wandering ninja," he muttered under his breath. "You're a fool for getting involved in this, half pint."_

" _I thought you called her Kitten?" I couldn't help it, despite all the warnings Yuki had given us that we should never ever talk in front of these strange shinobi…The words just slipped out. I immediately covered my mouth with both hands._

 _He didn't turn towards me, his attention was focused on the mouth of the alleyway. "I call her many things, child. Kitten is just one of her nicknames."_

" _She says her name is Misako," I added to fill in the silence._

" _Mizako," he corrected, walking to the mouth of the alley so he could better surreptitiously observe the battle outside. "Her name is pronounced Mi-za-ko." He folded his arms in front of him and watched._

" _I'm very sorry... I won't make that mistake again," I said remembering that one of our previous masters had beaten us if we forgot our manners. "It's a very pretty name."_

 _His face was like stone, but his eyes darted back and forth following the action. Between the explosions and the screams he barely moved, but I could smell the sweat of anxiety coming off of him. He was worried… It slowly dawned on me that he was worried for her… Things began to add up for me, the way she commanded him to stay... "The girl… Is she your mistress?" I asked innocently. I thought that if he cared that much about her, that could mean she was a good master… worth trusting._

 _I don't think he was listening, he was completely focused on the fighting. He turned his head a little to one side. "What was that?"_

" _Is she your mistress?" I asked again. "Does she own you?"_

 _That got a reaction from him. His whole body twitched. He looked at me in shock as his jaw opened and shut a few times. "What?!" he sputtered. "Where did you get that idea?!"_

 _I shrugged in a non-committal way. "Does she own you?" I repeated. "Is that why you're so nervous? Because the master you have sworn to protect is putting herself in danger? I mean… she did order you to stay right here with me."_

 _I wouldn't have believed it possible, but his face grew even more sour. "She does not… own me!" He insisted with a cold glare._

 _I lowered my eyes, unsure of what to do. His heart was racing with a strange mix of emotions. It was hard to tell if he was telling the truth or not. "Well then, do you own her? Is that why you keep staring at her?"_

 _There was a ghost of a smile on his lips. "I most definitely do_ _not_ _own Mizako… I do not believe that there is anyone in the world who would dare make that claim."_

 _I frowned at that. "The whole world? She doesn't seem like she could be strong enough for that to be the case… Is she very rich then?" It was his turn to look confused. "She's so small… What keeps someone from taking her?" I asked him. "I've always been owned."_

 _He leaned forward and stared, really stared hard at me, He took in my greasy hair, my ragged shift, his eyes lingered on the collar around my neck. "What happened to you child?" he asked softly._

 _There was a huge explosion and a splintering crash outside the alley. The ground jumped with the impact of something huge. I cried out, but before I could stumble he had me._

 _His arms were strong and warm and they held me just long enough to make sure that I didn't fall. "Are you hurt?" he rumbled._

" _No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm… " My voice drained away in a whimper, eyes wide. There was a new smell wafting into the alleyway, a smell I recognized all too well. New adversaries were arriving. Not just any of the faceless men, but one who was second in command. The one who was never more cheerful than when he had us cowering at his feet, begging and bloody. The cruel one they called Tamago._

 _A tsunami of anxiety crashed over me. A cold watery looseness filled my stomach, telling my feet to run, begging me to be anywhere but here. I am ashamed to say that I almost did run… despite the thought that Yuki and Kyo were still out there, weak, hurt, trapped in the fighting, despite the fact that they needed me, I was overcome with terror. I started to escape out of the alleyway._

 _A huge hand clamped itself over my arm. The one who worried over his Kitten was looking down at me with a frown. "Where do you think you are off to?"_

" _Let me go!" I wailed, pulling at his fingers, but they were locked tight. "It's him! He's here!"_

 _The stern look of disapproval bordering on disgust was plain on the man's face. "Pull yourself together child… Fear is the first enemy a shinobi must learn to conquer." He shook me as he spoke. I squealed with fear and cringed back, expecting to be hit._

 _An emotion I couldn't quite catch flashed across his face. His grip loosened slightly on my arm. He still held me firm, but his fingers no longer hurt. The shinobi who called himself a knight took a deep breath tried to appear more reasonable. "Speak clearly now. Who is here?"_

" _Tamago-sama," I whimpered._

 _He frowned in thought. "That name means nothing to me, and I've memorized the bingo books of every great nation. Calm yourself child."_

 _I had no idea what he was talking about. "What's a Bingo book?"_

" _A book listing all the notable shinobi in a village, clan or organization." He sighed at my look of non comprehension. "It is a list of all the strong shinobi... This Tamago of yours isn't in there."_

" _Then there's been a mistake!" I insisted. I tried to pry his fingers off._

 _He sighed "You don't understand child… not being in the Bingo book means he isn't a threat."_

 _I shook my head. "No! You don't understand! It's Tamago!" I whimpered, waving my free hand at the fallen masked man in the alleyway. "He was one of the leaders. One of the strong ones… Everyone is afraid of him… Well, everyone except Majo-sama," I spat, trying to tug free. "Let go!"_

 _The knight drew himself up to his full height and gave a rumbling chuckle. "I do not frighten easily girl." He released his hold on my arm. "I promised Mizako I would keep an eye on you. No harm shall come to you as long as I am here." I took a breath and held it. He smelt of honesty. He was telling the truth. "So please girl, do us both a favor… stay right here...don't force me to sit on you. I promise you'll be safe."_

 _Safe… no one had ever promised that to me before. I had felt safe in various places, like with the old master, but we had never been told that we were… and that reminded me. "What about my brothers?" I called out to him in a pleading voice."_

 _He raised an eyebrow. "Brothers?"_

" _My brothers… They are out there… will you please get them and bring them back here?"_

 _His lips twitched in a frown. "Where are they?" I pointed. He glanced at them, behind the mink masked shinobi and her pack of hounds, as they battled a handful of the smooth masked shinobi. He slowly shook his head. "In the middle of all that? I'm sorry, I can't."_

 _I pulled on his tunic. "Please!" I pleaded. "You could get your Kitten at the same time!" I said trying to play on his loyalties._

 _His face grew stony. "That is precisely why I shan't go out there. I can't be seen with her."_

" _But they're going to kill her!" I screeched._

 _He gave a little half chuckle. "Leaf shinobi may be naive fools, but they have some strength. Look over there girl." He picked me up and leaned over towards the mouth of the alley. "Mizako has her two opponents trapped in a fire jutsu… she's just fine."_

" _What about the invisible one sneaking up behind her?" I asked._

 _He narrowed his eyes and studied the wall behind her. There was a slow shift on the brickwork masking the outline of an invisible man. The knight sucked in a breath and tossed me up and over onto his back. "Hold tight!" he growled._

 _It was like riding a bolt of lightning. As we left the alleyway, another of the masked shinobi sprang down from the rooftop and moved to intercept us. The knight just changed his path slightly and held out his arm. That masked shinobi went flying. I decided right then that we needed this man to think of us as his kittens too._

* * *

" _The battle was short. This Mizako and her masked friends did an admirable job forcing the enemy to retreat… Unfortunately, that's all it was, a temporary retreat."_

 _The storyteller's lips curled downward in a frown. "Mizako and the Tiger masked shinobi started to argue. The dogs started to to complain. The mink masked kunoichi kept trying to stand next to the knight and touch him… and it was clear he didn't like that. And then there was the talking."_

 _The storyteller paused and made a quick appeal to the heavens. "Talk talk talk talk… Let this be a lesson to you cubs. When you have to run... Run. Don't stand around chattering away. They all spent far too much time arguing when we should have been running. By the time our group started moving, the faceless men had regrouped."_

" _We fled from the village as fast as we could… not stopping until the sky grew dark and we were deep in the woods."_

" _I don't get it," said the red headed male, interrupting the story without raising his hand. "What was all that business with who owns who about? It's stupid to think that our people can be owned! I mean why didn't you…" He was about to continue his question when one of the adults shushed him._

" _It's alright," said the storyteller softly. "He may ask…" She turned and nodded at the rest of the circle. "All of you cubs may ask any question you can think of… Although," she said with a small smile forming on her face. "I would prefer it if you raised your hand first." She waved for him to continue._

 _The boy sat up a little taller but kept his face in a skeptical frown. "Okay… see… I get that you were prisoners and all that… But I mean, even in the rich guy's house, the woods were right there! Why would you need this knight guy at all?" His face twisted into a distasteful frown. "Everybody knows you can't own a person! I mean… Yeah, you can be captured and tied up and stuff… but if you have feet... you can run!"_

 _The storyteller looked down at her hands for a moment. "Do you have parents young cub?"_

 _The unruly mop of red hair bobbed once. "Well, yeah... doesn't everyone?"_

" _Did they teach you how to hunt?" The boy nodded again, a little uncertainly this time. "Did they teach you how to be brave? Did they quell your fears with hugs and stories? Did they tell you that they would always love you… always protect you?"_

 _A sour embarrassed look crossed the cub's face. "Everybody's parents say stuff like that!"_

" _Did they ever beat you my little cub?" the Storyteller asked quietly._

 _The boy jerked back in surprise. "Well, my mom spanked me this one time when she caught me playing doctor with…"_

" _Have you ever been starved?"_

 _The boy shrugged, an unsure little bounce of his shoulders. "I've been hungry every now and then, but then you just have to go out and catch…"_

" _Have you ever been locked in a dark room for so long that you think you will never see the sun? Did you parents ever chain you, and then leave you forgotten for days… leave you for so long that the shackles rub your skin raw and bleeding? Have you ever had to lie in your own filth for weeks on end, constantly swatting at the flies that swarm you, trying to plant their eggs in your flesh?" The storyteller took a deep breath and tilted her head back up, staring flatly at the boy. "Now answer a question of mine child," she said in a quiet, sure voice. "Do you think you have learned how bad things can be?"_

 _The boy's face flushed under her gaze."No," he said in a quiet voice._

 _She nodded once and turned away from the red headed boy. "You and your friends here have been most fortunate. You had parents who cared for you… friends and neighbors who would go out of their way to make sure you were safe, to make sure that you knew the things you would need to survive. My brothers and I were taught only one lesson growing up… Your master controls you… displease the master and he can make you suffer." She turned and looked back to the red headed cub. "That is why I ended up asking about owners… It was all I had ever known."_

 _The Storyteller swallowed and got a far away look in her eye. "Yuki was smart, and Kyo was brave… all I ever wanted was to be safe."_

 _She took a deep breath and continued the story. "This new shinobi, the knight, was fast… faster than the braided girl. He was strong. I thought he might even be stronger than the white haired shinobi with the tiger mask. The one thing I was sure of was that our little group could not afford to send him away. Not if we wanted to survive. These new shinobi were skilled, but they hadn't faced the worst of the masked men yet. They hadn't faced Tamago… or Majo-sama."_

 _A silence settled over the fire pit. After a moment there was a rustle as the young green-eyed girl cub slowly pulled herself up and whispered something in her mother's ear. The woman raised her hand. "Katsuki here would like to ask a question," she said brightly, nudging her daughter forward._

 _The storyteller wiped her face quickly and smiled. "Yes?"_

 _The little girl nervously hopped up to her knees, twirling a finger in her hair. "So… Um… Were you safe? Did the Knight.. Um… Did he protect you from all the bad guys? Did he end up keeping you and your brothers safe?"_

 _The storyteller shook her head, blonde tresses gleaming orange in the firelight. "He tried and sometimes he did… But my girl, somethings are never easy."_


	5. Chapter 5

They ran for the better part of two hours. Mizako's lungs were just beginning to burn from the chill air when Kira's dogs found them a campsite.

The clearing was a good one. Kira Inuzuka practically begged them all to stop there saying, "We aren't going to find anything this good in a thousand kilometers." The site was a storm toppled tree that had come to rest against a large boulder, creating a dead air space sheltered from the elements and the wind. The whole site was hidden from the road by a cluster of hillocks. Kira had posted a handful of her hounds around the site to act as sentries. The rest of her dogs were huddled up with the humans for warmth.

The temperature was dropping steadily and there was a gentle flurry of snow starting to fall. However there were no fires allowed. Kira insisted and Kakashi agreed, the smoke would give away their position.

The camp might have had a good location, but it was not a happy one. The three children were huddled together under a spare cloak, the two boys whispering angrily at the girl.

Then, when a shivering Mizako started to complain about the chill, Kira agreed with her and then jokingly suggested that Ay could take turns keeping them warm. Her suggestion was met with stony silence from the Kumo shinobi. As was the Inuzuka girl's remark that if they really wanted to heat things up, Ay could take off his shirt and shake that groove thing. Then there was Kira's running description of Ay: that he had a chest of steel, and arms of steel, and thighs of steel and buns of steel wasn't too bad at first, but when she started to speculate in graphic detail what other parts of him might get as hard as steel…. Mizako couldn't take anymore.

Mizako stood up and stomped her way over to Kakashi. The young ANBU commander was leaning against the side of the boulder, nose buried in one of his ubiquitous Icha-icha novels. "Kakashi sensei!" Mizako blurted, when it became clear that he wasn't about to look up. "Will you please tell your subordinate to stop making improper comments? It's hardly professional!"

Kakashi idly turned a page. "Nope."

"No?!" Her jaw dropped open. "Can't you see how much she's offending him?"

Kakashi looked up and over at Ay. "Offending him? No, I don't think so. Being forward enough to make Jiraiya-sensei himself take a step back and nervously excuse himself? Definitely."

"But what if he gets insulted? He can be a very proud person sometimes… He might leave!" said Mizako stomping her foot.

Kakashi turned another page. "Good."

"Good?!" yelped Mizako, so loud that the children stopped their whispering and looked up from their blanket. "You've seen what he can do in a fight!"

Kakashi sighed, tucked a bookmark in between his pages and shut the novel with a snap. "I have… and he is most impressive… Yet if you took the time to stop and think about it Mizako… The farther away he gets from Konoha and... all of her citizens, the better it just might just be for everyone concerned… Wouldn't you agree?"

There was a halt in all other conversation. The three children were looking at them. Kira was looking at them. Ay was pretending not to to be listening and failing miserably… even dogs were twitching their ears. Mizako swallowed once, her face flushing hotly. She crouched down next to Kakashi and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Look sensei… Kumo isn't our enemy here!" she insisted. "These masked shinobi, I'll bet money they're rogues from the Hidden Leaf! I swear I fought both a Nara and an Akimichi!"

Kakashi adjusted his tiger mask and then shrugged. "And I'm pretty sure that one of my opponents was a Hyuga… That just makes this an internal matter. It doesn't mean that we should automatically be trusting a shinobi from a rival village," he looked up, "especially one whose leader makes it a habit to kidnap children," he said darkly.

"That... was different," mumbled Mizako, torn between trying to defend Ay and agreeing with Kakashi about the Raikage's attempt to steal the Nine Tails Jinchuriki. "That was... political."

"That, as you oh so delicately insist on calling it, was not 'political'... It was a blatant attempt to steal Kushina-sama away from Konoha… and let us not forget that business where the Raikage tried to abduct you."

"In that case, might I remind you," she snapped, her voice raising a notch in volume, "Ay ended up going against the will of his father and returning me home!" she said triumphantly.

Kakashi was quiet for a while. Then he shook his head in a disappointed way. "And that's why you chose him? Really Mizako-chan? Out of all the... 'guys' in Konoha… there wasn't a single one that met with your approval?"

Mizako squeezed her eyes shut. Her failed attempt at a relationship with Might Gai still stung sometimes. "That was a low blow sensei," she muttered after a pause.

Kakashi shrugged again. "I suspect it hurts you much less than the sharp pain your brother is going to feel when he hears that his little sister has been sleeping with the enemy," he said calmly.

"Ay is not an enemy! There is a truce between our villages!"

Kakashi picked up his book. "A truce is just an opportunity to rest, rearm and rebuild before the next war… The Second Hokage said that."

"He's saved my life Kakashi… two times now," Mizako said quietly. "If this was all some ruse, some secret plan on his village's part to try to feed him into my confidence, you have to admit it's a very convoluted one."

"Convoluted? Yes, but you have to admit… not impossible."

Mizako folded her arms. "What the heck is there around here to infiltrate? A pig wallow? Some farmer's barn full of turnips?" She followed Kakashi's gaze and found herself staring at the three children who had started whispering again. "What, you think he's after them?" she asked incredulously.

Kakashi shrugged. "Somebody thinks those three are valuable… Valuable enough to send at least four platoons of high ranking shinobi after us… You have to admit, given Kumo's past history… it's not unlikely they would be interested in the kids too."

"Exactly why he should stay with us!" pounced Mizako. "Four platoons! Kira thinks there are even more on the way… We need every ounce of help we can get!"

Kakashi lowered the Tiger mask a fraction and rubbed his forehead. "Mizako, this is a top secret ANBU mission…"

"Baloney! It's a training mission which has gone to complete cow pies!" she insisted. "How is he supposed to be a plant to kidnap a bunch of kids that nobody knew about? You found them by accident!" Mizako leaned forward eagerly. "Look Kakashi, you've already asked for help from any available shinobi! He's here! He's available! I promise, he can be trusted!"

Kakashi tilted his head. "And how do you really know that? How do you know he won't take advantage of this situation? How do you know he won't just grab the kids and run? Tell me Mizako… how well do you really know him?" he asked softly.

Mizako opened and shut her mouth a few times. "Well… I…"

"You've slept with him, sure… He's probably said all sorts of sweet nothings in your ear. Maybe he even meant them at the time." Mizako blushed hotly. Ay had said many things to her during their many encounters… The three little words she was hoping most to hear, had so far, not been among them.

Kakashi made a curt gesture at the two boys and the girl. "We have no idea what these children can do… what makes them valuable… Supposing your roles were reversed, and it was you... off in the Land of Lightning… If you found out that those three could pose a threat to the Land of Fire, or Konoha, would you be willing to let them go over to the enemy?"

"A very valid point," said Ay in a low growl, slowly rising to his feet. "Instead of badgering Mizako with hypotheticals though, why don't you just ask me yourself?" Kakashi and the Raikage's son eyed each other across the campsite like two bulls. At the moment, they were content to eye each other, circle each other, but with the slightest provocation, it was obvious they would charge.

The tiger mask dipped once in a nod. "Very well Akira -san, or whatever it is your calling yourself…"

"Please," said Ay with a snort of contempt. "You're insulting us both by trying to pretend your ignorance… Mizako has spoken my name at least twice. Feel free to use it."

Kakashi inclined his head slightly. "Very well then… Ay-san…The questions stands. What do you intend to do about these three?"

Ay narrowed his eyes. "I think you're a fool to lead them to Konoha. It's obvious that they've been imprisoned and tortured by Leaf Shinobi." There was a short gasp from the girl child huddled with her brothers.

"You have no proof of that," said Kakashi in a chill voice.

"No proof other than my own eyes… If you truly cared for these three, you would let them go freely to a safer location."

"Like Kumo I suppose?" asked Kakashi in a voice dripping with disdain. "Let me ask you this, Ay-san… what are you doing in the Land of Fire? What is your mission… Your real mission?"

There was just the tiniest flicker in Ay's eyes as he glanced at Mizako. "I'm not on a mission."

"And now you're insulting me," said Kakashi with a sigh. "I've read your file. It has half a page of text declaring how loyal you are to your father and the Hidden Cloud Village. You really expect me to believe that you'd risk the outbreak of another war... for the sole purpose of going on a date?"

Ay scowled, but Mizako noticed the faintest flush on his cheeks. "Believe what you will. I have no reason to lie… I'm here purely for… personal reasons."

Kakashi snorted. "Personal reasons… What a lovely excuse if you happened to get caught… Your father could plead ignorance… lay all the blame of this truce violation at the feet of his hot headed, impulsive son… He'd most likely get his best shinobi back in a prisoner exchange, and be able to keep the truce in place." Kakashi leaned forward. "Why are you really in foreign territory? Do you know how many treaties you are violating right now?"

"A treaty is only worth the paper it's printed on," Ay growled.

Kakashi's hand slipped into his equipment pouch. "Usually when someone goes about breaking a ceasefire and making those kind of statements, they have more of an army to back them up."

Mizako slowly got to her feet. "Okay Kakashi? That's enough."

"I need no army to handle the likes of you… Sharingan Kakashi," Ay spat. "I fought your Hokage in the war and came away the victor."

"Ay!" Mizako yelped. He knew how much she hated to hear about that. What was the matter with him?

"That's not how he tells it," said Kakashi his voice suddenly cold. He held a kunai in one hand and with the other, he reached up and pulled at his mask. His left eye gleamed red. "Minato-sensei says he had both you and your little brother deadlocked. The only reason you're both alive is that he was recalled to a different front!"

Ay gave him a slow grin. "Heh... Ran away is more like it! He's even faster when he's fleeing... you know."

"Will the two of you shut the duck up!" yelled Mizako, stepping between them. "What the fudge is wrong with you?"

To her mounting dread, they both rounded on her. "Wrong with me?" said Kakashi coldly. "I'm not the one who is consorting with the enemy!"

"I'm not consorting!" Mizako snapped. "I haven't betrayed the Hidden Leaf in any way!"

"Not even when the future Raikage showed up in the middle of a Konoha ANBU mission?" asked Kakashi.

"Your brother's prize student speaks the truth in this instance… You were the one who dragged me into this," Ay said icily.

"Stop trying to blame all your problems on me!" Mizako screeched. She whirled to face Kakashi. "I'm not the ANBU officer who screwed up a routine training mission so badly that he had to call for reinforcements! And you!" she yelled pointing an accusatory finger at Ay. "You never complained any of the previous seventeen times we slept together, so I don't want to hear you start complaining now!"

"Seventeen?" said Kira in an appreciative whisper "Lucky…"

"This shouldn't be about us or about our villages," continued Mizako, ignoring her. "What we should be worrying about is them!" She pointed a finger at the the three children huddled under a cloak.

"Not until we know why they're special," said Kakashi coolly.

"Konoha has enough weapons already," said Ay, giving him an angry stare. "Three more would tip the balance on your precious peace! I'll be damned if I'll let them be handed over to you!" Ay spat at Kakashi's feet. "Besides… Look at them… they've been beaten and worse… by your village!"

"That doesn't happen in Konoha!" Mizako insisted.

Ay gave her a withering look. "If you truly believe that... then you are nothing but a naive fool," he said pityingly. Those few words of his ignited a bonfire of anger inside of her.

There was a hot throbbing pulse that shot through the ragged scar over her breastbone. Mizako's fists clenched and she felt a wave of fiery chakra course through her chest and down her arms. "How dare you," she hissed. "How dare you suggest that any shinobi acting under my brother's orders would be... twisted enough to…"

"Stop!" yelled a clear high pitched voice. "Stop fighting… please." The girl had stood up and was nervously pacing towards the three of them on shaking legs. "I can show you why the faceless men wanted us."

"Tohru!" exclaimed one of the boys. "Shut up!"

She ignored him and took another step. "I can show you," she said in a shaking voice. "Just… just promise not to hurt me… or them," she pointed back at her brothers, "Okay?"

"Tohru, what the hell?!" yelled the other boy.

Mizako had been trained by Kushnia all her life not to swear, and at times, her sister-in-law's beliefs seemed to spring up and seize control of her mouth. She spun and stabbed an accusatory finger at the boy. "Watch your language!" she warned in tones as frosty as an empress.

The girl, Tohru, crossed the final few meters and stood next to them, shivering. "I'll show you... but someone has to take my collar off first."

There as a brief pause, and then Mizako reached out for the band of metal circling the girl's neck. Kakashi stopped her. "It's a chakra retaining collar," he said quietly, his sharingan gleaming red in the night. "Similar to the ones they use on criminals and captured rogue-nin… but not exactly."

"Not exactly… how?" asked Mizako.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm not... sure… I've never seen anything quite like this. It looks like there's an additional sealing jutsu placed inside the metal, only it keeps moving… almost like it's alive… I'm not so sure we should even touch it until we're in a more controlled environment."

Ay stepped forward. "Is it in the whole collar or just the band?"

Kakashi tilted his head, staring at the ring of metal around Tohru's neck. "Just the band but…"

He was cut off as Ay nudged him out of the way. He looked down at the girl and almost smiled. "Do you want to get out of this collar child?" The girl nodded. "Then be very brave... and hold still." Ay held up one hand. There was a crackling noise and the smell of ozone filled the air. His fingers were awash in a searing bright white light.

He punched his fingers forward. There was a sharp metallic squeal as the bolt fastening the two halves of the collar together was sheared away. Tohru jumped and gave a sharp yelp.

The two boys charged forward. "Leave her alone!" the taller one shouted.

The smaller one just sprang at Ay. Mizako caught him before he could land a punch. "Hold on a second there," she said amicably, trying to calm him down.

He fought against her, twisting and squirming. "Let me go you stupid bitch!" he howled, landing a kick against her shin.

"Hey!" Mizako bellowed. "We do not use that sort of language here!"

"Fuck you!" the smaller boy screeched. There was brief pause and then he screeched louder a second time as Mizako grabbed him by the ear.

"Okay young man.. That will be quite enough," Mizako said in a cold stern voice. "One more word out of you and I will wash out your mouth with soap."

"You don't have any soap!" spat the boy.

"If you swear one more time… So help me, I will make some! For the sole purpose of making you eat it!" Mizako said giving him a little shake.

"Calm down boy," said Ay in a low rumble, a smirk twisting the corner of his mouth. "Your willingness to protect your sister does you credit, but she is fine… see?"

"It's okay Kyo," said the girl. "I wasn't hurt, see? It just... shocked me a little."

"That was incredibly rash of you," said Kakashi in a disapproving voice.

"Rash, but necessary wouldn't you say?" asked Ay with a raised eyebrow. "At least if we are to truly assess why these children are so desperately sought after." He turned and looked down at the girl. "Go ahead child," he said with a nod. "Show us."

Tohru took a deep breath, closed her eyes and concentrated. "I can't… the collar… it's still…" She reached up and pulled on the metal ring around her neck. "She looked up at Ay. "It's stuck," she said in a helpless voice.

Ay reached out with both hands and pulled. The metal of the collar gave a tortured squeal and bent. Then Ay grunted in surprise.

A thick dark shadow snaked its way out the broken end of the collar and clamped itself around his huge hand. Ay jerked and shook his fingers, but the creature held on tight, thrashing around and trying to coil around his arm.

With sharingan enhanced grace, Kakashi caught the tail of the serpent-like beast, stretched it out, and sliced it in two with his Lightning cutter jutsu. There was a splash, and the end Kakashi was holding dissolved into a oily black sludge.

Taking Kakashi's cue, Ay activated his own lightning jutsu and sliced at the remaining half of the smoky serpent. It oozed down from his bleeding hand and dribbled down into a shallow puddle on the frozen ground. "Are you okay?" Mizako asked

Ay took an involuntary step back. The thick black oil was bubbling and quivering on the ground, as if it was slowly trying to inch its way closer to the remaining dribbles of sludge.

Ay held out his fist and let what was left of the creature drip away. "That was careless," he said in a calm voice. Mizako was impressed. If it wasn't for the slight tremor in his fist, you would never know how shaken he was. "You could have warned me it was trapped," he said offhandedly to Kakashi.

"I thought I did," said Kakashi in an amused voice. "But you're right, next time I'll know that the Raikage's heir needs to have things spelled out for him… slowly" He took a glance down at the pool of oil seething and roiling at their feet. "This wouldn't by any chance be what you wanted us to see, would it?" he asked Tohru. The girl had one hand on her neck and just shook her head mutely. "Hmm... then I think perhaps we should hold off on removing the other two collars for the moment." Mizako could hear the smile under Kakashi's Tiger mask. "So… what was it you wanted to show us?"

"Don't do it Tohru!" shouted the taller of the two boys. "You know what will happen!"

Torhu flinched as her brother stared disapprovingly. "Tohru?" Mizako said in a soft voice. "You don't have to show us if you think it will make your brothers upset… You could just tell us maybe?"

The young girl shook her head. "No. It will be better to show you. Otherwise he'll think I'm lying," she said pointing at Kakashi, "and he'll think I'm hiding something." She turned and pointed at Ay. She crossed her arms over her chest and hugged herself. "I'm sorry, Yuki… Kyo… We just… this is the only way to get them to help us."

"And what if they 'help' us just like everyone else?" said Yuki in cool voice. "Or worse… what if they decide to give us back?" He took a step forward pleading, "Please Tohru… don't do this."

"Yeah, it's goddam stupid to trust these assholes!" snapped Kyo. "Ouch!" he cried as Mizako smacked him on the back of the head.

Tohru took a deep breath, closed her eyes and concentrated.

* * *

" _Have you ever tried to explain the change to one who is not of the clan? One of our previous masters was throwing a big fancy party, trying to impress a group of young women. He made my brothers and I change in front of them, but slowly, so they could see every muscle that twisted… hear every pop of a joint. Most of the women were frilly, dainty things. They screamed, or grew squeamish about the 'monsters' in their midst… and ran for him, clinging to our master... which was no doubt his plan."_

 _The storyteller paused for a moment. "But there was one of the women who seemed... genuinely interested. She looked young and pretty, but smelled more mature than the others… more experienced… there was a tang of sadness about her…" The storyteller paused and shook her head. "She had drunk far too much sake for the evening and needed her servant to help her stand straight and avoid bumping into the furniture… but when she saw us shift from two feet to four, she staggered right up to us. 'Do that again!' she insisted loudly. We stopped and stared at each other. After a moment we started to shift back. 'There! Stop! You're shortening the femur while lengthening the metatarsals and restructuring the whole pelvic girdle in the process… Do you feel any pronounced ostealgia?' Our confusion must have been clear. 'Doesn't that hurt?' she clarified."_

" _We milled about unsure of what to do. The master waved at us. 'Answer the question."_

" _Yuki shrugged. 'It doesn't hurt. Sometimes the bones seem to stick if we go too slow, faster is better.'_

" _She held out her hand and prodded at his leg. 'Fascinating,' she said in a slurred voice. 'The rate at which your osteoclasts and osteoblasts are breaking down and rebuilding your skeleton must be phenomenal. Hey! Shizune!' she called to her young companion. 'Come over here! You have got to see this! And bring something to write on, I want to take notes!' She turned back to us. 'Have any of you ever broken a bone? How long did it take to heal?'_

" _Broke my arm two weeks ago,' grumbled Kyo with a surly frown. He always got testy when the guests were paying what he felt was undue attention to us._

" _The woman smiled. 'May I?' she asked eagerly reaching out for his arm. She squeezed it up and down and whistled. 'I can barely even feel the fracture line… What an amazing rate of healing. We're going to need blood and tissue samples, bone marrow too…' Her voice dropped off as she saw the horrified expressions on our faces. 'With your parent's permission of course,' she said with a nervous smile. 'Oh don't worry, She may be young, but Shizune has hands of a surgeon, you won't feel a thing.' She turned to Kyo. 'So, how did you do it? Climbing a tree?'_

" _There was a pause as Kyo stared at her face. 'We don't have any parents… and my arm broke when that… person told his guards to beat me,' he said in a flat voice, pointing a finger at the master."_

 _The storyteller shifted in the firelight. "I heard two of the servants gossiping the next day. They said that particular woman challenged the master to a game of chance… hoping that she could win us, but she lost...There were muted rumors around the master's compound that this doctor woman accused the master of cheating… there was a second somewhat nervous rumour that once she sobered up she was going to come back and take us anyway, by force… It was very quickly after that the master sold us to a different man. I often wondered what happened to that lady."_

* * *

 _I shifted in front of the two masked shinobi, the Knight and Mizako. My four footed form was met with stunned silence. It was good to be covered with fur again. It was much warmer than the cloaks we had been using. I sat on my haunches and waited, my tail and whiskers twitching in nervous anticipation._

 _The first one to recover was Mizako. She knelt down next to me, carefully reaching out one hand. "Tohru? Is that still you?" she asked incredulously. I butted my head against her hand to show the affirmative._

 _It wasn't a transformation jutsu variant," said the dog girl in a fascinated voice. "She smells… well she smells like a real cat…. a lion." She twisted her head at the sound of several curious dogs all slowly approaching, curiously sniffing at the air. "Hey!" she barked. "Back up! Give the kid some room!" she said, giving one of the hounds a firm push away. "Get back I said! No crowding! Move I said! I don't want to hear anyone complaining they got their nose scratched!"_

" _I told you all that there was something weird about the kids!" said the little pug dog in a triumphant voice. "I told you! I told you they smelled funny! But did you listen to me? Oh no…" his voice trailed off in a growly mutter._

 _The Knight and the Tiger mask shared a glance. "I've heard tales about a clan of cat shapeshifters from Uzushiogakure," the one they called Ay said quietly._

 _The Tiger mask nodded. "The Tsukuineko clan… They were supposedly wiped out along with most of the other Hidden Whirlpool shinobi when the village fell… still, I suppose if some of the Uzumaki clan managed to survive… why couldn't the Tsukuineko?" He turned and look at my brothers. "Is this what the three of you were trying to keep hidden?" Yuki and Kyo didn't answer, they just glared at him sullenly. I suppose though that he must have read something in their expressions because he nodded in a satisfied way. "Good. Well I suppose then we ought to…"_

 _He was cut off as an unearthly scream tore through the camp. The puddle of oily blackness that had spilled from my collar erupted from the ground forming a twisting column in the air. It spun in loops and whorls, floating there like one of those ribbons that dancers are always using. It screamed again, longer and louder this time._

 _There was a faint answering cry from somewhere deep in the woods. The oily creature snapped a quick turn in the air and began to speed away. "Catch it!" yelled the Tiger mask as he dove for the thing, his hand crackling with electricity. As he was closing in on the tail end of the beast, the ribbon slipped between the trunk fork of a nearby tree. Tiger mask's hand punched through the wood in an explosion of splinters. "Catch it!" he yelled again, tugging at his trapped hand. "Get it before it gives away our position!"_

 _In a flash Mizako was up and after the thin coil of darkness. I saw her braid bouncing behind her in the twilight. A second later there was the crackle of lightning as the Knight followed her into the forest._

 _There was the loud snap of splitting wood and the Tiger mask pulled his hand free from the tree trunk. "Dammit," he swore under his breath._

" _What now sensei?" asked the the dog girl._

 _He sighed and rubbed his wrist. "Double the nin-ken patrols. If Mizako and the Kumo-nin are unable to catch… that thing… I'll bet we're going to have company."_

" _No problem sensei." She hesitated briefly. "Um… what should we do about the other two?" she asked jerking her head towards my brothers. "Should we get rid of them?" I arched my back and let out a low yowl, putting myself between her and Yuki and Kyo. No one was going to touch them, not while I had my teeth and claws._

 _I found myself slowly being encircled by silent dogs. "Calm down Tohru," the mink masked kunoichi said, taking in the scene with an amused snort. "I'm just talking about the collars."_

 _The Tiger mask looked at my brothers thoughtfully and shrugged. "The other two collars also look like they might have something similar hidden inside them._

" _Might have?"_

 _There was an exasperated sigh from the Tiger mask. "Look, there is definitely something in there, but I can't tell for certain if it's the same as the other… thing, okay? If you wanted a more detailed description you should have partnered up with a Hyuga."_

 _The dog girl wrinkled her nose. "No thanks sensei. Do you know how uptight that clan is? That Hidoru Hyuga guy I beat during the chunin exams complained to the proctor for an hour and a half after our match was officially over!"_

" _That was because you kept up a running commentary the whole way through the match," said the Tiger mask, walking over to Yuki and Kyo to take a closer look at their collars._

 _The mink masked kunoichi shrugged. "Everybody trash talks sensei."_

" _Trash talk, yes… whispering in his ear how you are going to cover him in whipped cream and then lick it all off… That's a little different from what most opponents would typically say..."_

" _Eh… It got me the vest didn't it? Not my problem if he can't handle a little distraction." She looked down at me. "Hey kid… Do you think you could go back to being a little girl again?" She waved a hand at the circling hounds, still staring at me intently. "I'm pretty sure that no one here is going to chase you up a tree, but I'd rather they kept their mind on the job at hand… You know?"_

 _I nodded and changed, rising back up on two legs, shivering as I pulled my thin shift up around my shoulders. The dog girl watched me as I did so. "Hey sensei?" she called over to him. "If we're going to keep these munchkins with us, we should really start to think about getting them some winter gear."_

 _The Tiger mask didn't even look up from where he was prodding at Yuki's collar. "I'll add it to my ever expanding 'to do' list." He also didn't look up as Mizako and Ay came skidding back into the campsite. "Well?" he asked."_

 _Mizako sighed. "It got away. The underbrush is too thick here."_

 _The Tiger mask frowned. "That's... too bad," he said quietly._

" _The fault is not hers. Mizako performed rather more admirably than usual," rumbled the knight. "That thing managed to evade even me."_

 _The braided girl shot him an angry look of betrayal. "Performed rather more admirably than usual? What's that supposed to mean?"_

" _Mizako… just… drop it. We have a more important decision to make," said the Tiger mask in a pained voice. "If I was a betting man, I'd say that that little collar thing went looking for our masked friends. We need to decide whether or we should start running right away or take those collars off first."_

" _Why would you…" I started._

 _The knight interrupted. "Smart," was all he said._

" _What's smart?" asked Mizako, a trace of hurt still in her voice._

" _Think squirt… This location has already been compromised," said Ay in a patronising tone. "Assuming the other two collars hold something similar, if we take them off here, the enemy won't have the chance to gain any other information. I say we remove them now."_

" _Kira?" asked the Tiger mask._

 _The mink mask shrugged. "No report from the sentries. If we're going to do it, let's do it quickly."_

 _The Knight and the Tiger mask stared at each other again. There was slightly less animosity this time, but only slightly. "I'll do one, you do the other, and we'll have Mizako burn the black snakes when they appear?" asked the white haired young man._

" _Hey! Don't we get a say in all this?" spat Kyo._

 _Everyone turned to stare at him incredulously. "Wait, wait wait...You want to stay all collared up?" asked Kira._

 _My brother shut his mouth in a furious frown. "No!" he said indignantly. "But you still could have asked us first!"_

* * *

 _The storyteller brushed her bangs back from her face, flipping her braid to her other shoulder. She took a long drink from a waterskin beside her, and continued. "The snow had picked up and the wind was getting stronger, but it still felt good to run without the collars on. Our strength was slowly returning. The bruises and injuries of the past week were slowly fading away as our bodies healed. I wish it would heal the animosity that Yuki and Kyo were feeling towards me."_

" _They didn't have to say a word. I could tell from the way they would scowl and look away quickly when I tried to catch their eye. We had all agreed, after the betrayal of the master, that none of these people could be trusted. After the interest the snake-man had shown in us, our lives had been sold just to further his interests. We were looking for escape. We were looking for safety. We had vowed not to say anything, not to do anything, not the slightest thing that would call anyone's attention to us… I jogged over to their side to try to explain to them why I decided to break our promise… and once again Yuki shot me a foul look and tugged Kyo away."_

 _The storyteller tucked her legs underneath her. "So instead... I stayed with the adults. I looked at the four shinobi who were running with us, those four who said they would keep us safe, had shown that they were willing to protect us, that they trusted us enough to free us from the hated collars."_

 _The storyteller smiled. "Of course just because they were willing to protect us and trusted us didn't mean that they had sorted out all their own issues."_


	6. Chapter 6

_The Tiger mask and Ay kept as far away from each other as possible. Ay was at the point of our formation, while the young ANBU took up the rear. There was a deep seated animosity in our group, and it didn't take much to see that it was centered around the Kumo shinobi. Mizako had kept pace with Ay for a while, trying to hold a pointed conversation with him. I overheard her using the phrase, 'Don't insult my brother' and 'stop trying to goad Kakashi!' several times. Their heated discussion ended when Mizako dropped back in disgust, apparently through talking to him."_

 _Kira sidled up to her. "So," she said, her voice dripping with curiosity, "trouble in paradise?"_

 _Mizako shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered angrily._

 _Kira looked at her with a bit of sympathy. "I hate to break this to you sempai… but you're going to have to talk about it... to some very important people… and soon… like, to the Hokage, when he finds out."_

" _What if he doesn't find out?" asked Mizako quietly._

 _There was a long pause as Kira studied Mizako. "And just what are you suggesting sempai?"_

" _Mizako took a deep breath. "Look Kira, this is… this is... not something my older brother needs to concern himself with."_

 _The mink mask tilted in surprise. "Really? Do you honestly believe that? I mean, I'll admit that he's gorgeous… From the physical side of things, I can totally see why you decided to jump his bones... But the Hokage's sister and the Raikage's son? That's much MUCH more interesting than the usual international 'who can we screw with now?' game." Kira grinned and nudged Mizako with her elbow. "Did you see what I did there?" There was no response from Mizako. "Sorry… Look… I mean… You've had your fun sempai… Now would be a good time to walk away and cherish the memories before somebody decides to start another war."_

 _A pained look crossed Mizako's face. "I… don't know if I can just walk away."_

" _Sure you can, it's easy! You just say 'It's been a blast hot buns, but I don't want to see you anymore' and if he starts whining or gives you any trouble, you kick him really hard in the…"_

" _Kira! " Mizako exclaimed. She paused and sighed. "Kira…I… That's not the problem… I think I like him… I think I really like him."_

" _Do you mean 'really like' him, like him or 'REALLY like' him?"_

 _Mizako bit her lip. "How can you tell the difference?"_

 _Kira pursed her lips. "Ho ho… in a situation like this, there's only one sure fire method that experts can use to determine that difference… The dirty underwear test."_

 _Mizako nearly tripped and fell. "What?!"_

 _The dog girl shrugged. "Well, it's like Aunt Tsume says: Playing house is fun and all, but what you're feeling ain't true love unless you're willing to scrub the skid marks out of your cuddly snuggle bunny's underwear." Kira paused and studied Mizako again. "Well? How about it? Does he pass?"_

 _Mizako was quiet for a long while. "Well… Sometimes… Sometimes I wish he would sit down and think and listen instead of seeing everything as an affront to his pride."_

 _Kira giggled. "My grandmother had a saying that she would always say whenever my dad or uncles got caught up in an inter-clan feud: The only thing you can count on from a male is to go around pissing on all the shrubbery. I'll admit she was generalizing a little, but even so, I have never known of any boy who could go an entire day without being a pain in the butt at least once."_

 _Mizako grinned at her joke and nodded. "Yeah… He most definitely is a pain in the… tushie… but I don't know if I can blame him for that… I mean he doesn't ever want to talk about it but, can you imagine what growing up with the Raikage as your father must have been like? I can see the way he bottles everything up, he just hides everything away… nothing can hurt him, nothing can stop him, he's just invincible Ay." Mizako looked away wistfully. "But you know what? Every now and then… when we're together he just… relaxes the tiniest bit… And the fact that he's chosen to share that with me..." She sighed._

" _Wow… you have it bad sempai," giggled Kira, "Need any laundry detergent?"_

" _Shut up!"_

 _There was a long thoughtful pause on Kira's part. "So... You and Ay are... definitely together."_

 _Mizako nodded. "Yes."_

" _And you're positive this isn't just some sort of inter-village booty call on his part."_

 _Mizako sighed. "Yes Kira... We went over this."_

 _The Inuzuka girl stared off into the trees. "No, no no… I just really want to make sure that you know what you've done here… The Hokage's sister… with the Raikage's son."_

 _Mizako covered her face in her hands. "I know... it's not... It isn't..." she paused and let out a deep breath. "It's not what it looks like."_

 _Kira looked up. "Oh… I know what it looks like… It looks like you're in love." Mizako looked away her face turning bright red. "Messed up, star crossed, 'uh-oh here comes the tragic bloodbath of an ending' love that some playwright is going to write about in twenty years and win a whole ton of awards for. I can see exactly how much trouble you'll end up in if word of this gets out... I have to be honest sempai, even having seen him in person, I'm still a bit surprised you went for it." Kira frowned and shook her head. "You're sure he's the Raikage's son?"_

 _Mizako nodded. "Yes," she said in a quiet whisper._

 _Kira stared at Ay. He ran in front of them easily keeping the pace as he lept from branch to branch. "Absolutely sure?"_

 _"Positive... Why... do you keep asking?" asked Mizako, a note of suspicion creeping into her voice._

 _Kira turned and gave her a huge grin. "Duh, the Raikage has two sons... Ay and Bee right? I mean… the way I look at it, who am I to stand in the way of true love? But that's no reason to keep my mouth shut without asking for a little something in return, you know?" There was beat as Mizako returned her smile. "So," asked the dog girl in a low husky voice, "have you met Bee? Is he as cute as his brother?"_

 _It was a nice moment… Seeing the two young women laughing together, gossiping about the brother of Ay, laughing about some story of how Mizako once worried she smelt of calamari… It's frightening how fast a moment can change._

 _We managed to find a small cottage deep in the woods… a older peasant couple lived there. They didn't have much, a small vegetable garden, a few goats… but they did have a roof and they did have a fire, and that was all that really mattered to us. They weren't happy about having to suddenly squeeze an extra seven people and a small horde of dogs into their home, but they weren't about to deny the request for shelter from two ANBU from Konoha… especially not when Ay was looming over their shoulder._

 _It was wonderful to be in the warm. Kakashi asked our hosts if they had any old clothes or blankets that they might purchase to help keep us warm. They charged him an exorbitant price for those dirty rags, but he paid it without complaint. The old couple offered my brothers and me some hot soup and we greedily gulped down bowl after bowl. When the matron of the house half jokingly complained that the three of us were going to eat them out of house and home, Mizako and Kira emptied their pockets and handed them a thick stack of ryo._

 _One second they were quietly chatting amongst each other, quietly dozing on the dirt floor of the cottage, and in the next, Kakashi had leaped to his feet. All four shinobi had circled around us in a tight defensive position. "What is it?" asked Yuki. The Tiger mask shushed him._

 _They must have either approached from upwind or masked their smell. Neither we nor the dogs had ever caught scent of them. The first hint we had that we were caught was a sound... a cheerful cacophonic song... like the ringing of a hundred tiny bells._

 _I knew that sound._

 _Majo-sama._

* * *

The wind of the storm gave a low moan and suddenly died. Everyone inside the hovel froze as the sound of the chimes filtered through the walls.

Kakashi swore under his breath and leapt to his feet. Ay and Mizako quickly followed him. They slid the door to the hut open a crack. The forest outside the cottage was ringed with robed figures. The crowd of masked men parted and a single person stepped through. From her shadowy outline it was easy to tell she was a kunoichi. The tinkling sound was from a collection of priest's charms, designed to keep away bad spirits and angry ghosts, dangling from the edge of her wide brimmed straw hat. She stopped, waited for the ringing to fade, and then looked up at the cottage. Her featureless mask seemed to glow in the shadow cast by her sugegasa. "Hello to the shinobi inside the house… I wish to speak to whomever is in charge," she said in a carrying alto.

Kakashi, Ay and Mizako all stared at each other. The only sounds were the scrambling of the elderly couple as they both struggled to hide behind a small drying rack and the whimpering of the hounds. "Kira?" Kakashi asked quietly. "What's our status?"

"Bad."

"How bad?"

"On a scale of one to ten? Hmm… has anyone ever assigned a numerical value to 'Oh shit oh shit, we're all going to die?"

Kakashi sighed. "Less wit, more concrete data please."

"There are more than twenty of them out there. It's tough to get an exact count through all the snow." Kira reached over and patted one of her hounds. "Enough of them are in the 'badass' category that Aki here forgot he was housebroken."

Ay dismissively shook his head. "This is what Konoha calls discipline in the field?" he muttered contemptuously.

"I am still waiting for your commander to show themselves," the alto voice rang out again. "I was hoping that through dialogue we could prevent further unnecessary violence… perhaps I was wrong."

Kakashi sighed, and stepped through the doorway. He didn't leave the square of light shining on the new fallen snow. "I'm in command here," he said calmly. Inside the house, Ay snorted. "What did you want to discuss?"

There was long pause as the kunoichi studied him. "You… well that explains it."

"Explains what?" asked Kakashi in a voice full of cool amusement.

There was a soft sigh from the woman. "It explains some of the difficulties my men were having in pursuing this mission... Hatake-san," she said in a disappointed tone. "Why are you interfering with your fellow Leaf shinobi? I thought your clan would have had its fill of failed missions by now."

Mizako gasped and quickly turned to watch Kakashi. There was a slight tightening in his shoulders, but otherwise, he remained calm. "Fellow Leaf shinobi?" Kakashi asked curiously. "I don't see any Hai-ate headbands… I don't recognize your uniforms."

"We are all members of ANBU...on a secret mission requiring us to leave all manners of our identity behind."

Mizako could see Kakashi's eyes narrow through the eyeholes in his mask. "Infiltration missions are always one or two shinobi… never twenty."

"Nevertheless," said the woman, "we are Konoha ANBU… the identifying password of the month is Mekajiki."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "I'm sure you are aware that passwords can be stolen… If you are truly from Konoha, why didn't you identify yourselves earlier?"

There was a jangling shrug from the kunoichi. "My subordinates were following orders. This is a delicate mission. The fewer people who know about it the better. I'm sure as a fellow ANBU, you can understand that." A gust of wind set a swirl of snowflakes through the air, briefly blanketing the world in white. When the whiteout cleared, the kunoichi was several meters closer to the house. "Return to us our cargo Hatake-san… it is your duty."

"I'd be happy to…" There was a muffled gasp from Tohru, Yuki had placed a hand over her mouth. "But you see there's just one little problem… Your 'cargo'… well, they escaped," said Kakashi in an embarrassed voice.

"Really." The masked kunoichi was unamused.

Kakashi nodded. "Really. They were quite nimble. We were all astounded by how fast they were."

"My pets tell me otherwise," said the kunoichi. She held up one arm. Dancing in her palm was a smoky coil of darkness. "This one says you purposefully cut open the restraints and freed the cargo." She tilted her head as if she was listening to the twisting shadow. "He says that your small band had several discussions, one about what to do with them once freed."

Kakashi flexed his right hand… his chidori hand. "Your... pets... were hidden inside chakra restraining collars… placed on children who were locked in a cage," he said in a quiet yet firm voice. "Children who were quite obviously not being properly cared for."

"Children? Whatever you might think, let me assure you those three aren't children, Kakashi-kun," said the kunoichi, again driving home the point that she knew Kakashi's identity. "Not children... They are Assets… assets that will improve the security of the Hidden Leaf Village."

Mizako tensed as Kakashi leaned forward even so slightly. The threat of violence was beginning to spill off of him. "Assets that are so important that they have to beaten? Starved? Abused? Who gave the order to treat them like this?"

The kunoichi's laugh was surprisingly warm given the topic of conversation. "You want to see my mission orders young man? Fine." One hand slipped into her robe and pulled out a thin scroll. "I think you'll find that every action we took has been ordered by the Hokage himself." She lobbed the tightly wrapped cylinder of paper in an underhand throw.

It never reached Kakashi's hand. Mizako blurred out of the doorway and intercepted the scroll as it tumbled through the air. "My brother would never order such a thing!" she screamed indignantly.

There was a long pause as the eyeless mask seemed to study her. "Namikaze-san… what a… pleasure... it is to see such an honorable member of our village in my travels...Please, you go ahead and read that scroll… I have another copy for Kakashi-kun right here." A second scroll was tossed out as Mizako opened the first one.

The characters on the page looked normal, until she tried to read them. The words didn't seem to want to stick in her mind, their meanings danced around and around always slipping out of reach. Then the words themselves started to swirl around on the page. Her eyes chased them, this way and that but the twisting brushstrokes just didn't want to be comprehended. She was so busy trying to decipher them that the flowing streaks of blackness coiling about her arms and legs seemed completely unworthy of her attention… Right up until a fist glowing white hot with chakra tore through the scroll. Mizako blinked and screamed.

There was a sharp pin prick of pain in her chest and her head seemed to spin. Her scream must have involuntarily triggered a burst of her fire nature chakra. There was an airy 'wuff' sound and suddenly her limbs were ablaze with heat. The oily tentacles holding her screeched at an unnaturally high pitch and slithered back into the masked kunoichi's robes. Ay stood beside Mizako, fist crackling with energy, burning through the remnants of the trapped scroll. "When will you stop playing the fool, pipsqueak?" he muttered. "One day I won't be around to save you."

The masked kunoichi bowed her head slightly as if praying and then loosened the cloth belt to her robe. "Wonderful... and now we have an enemy shinobi added into the equation," she said with an exasperated sigh. "It can't be helped..." Her obi flapped in the wind and then was torn away to be tangled in the trees. The charms on her hat jangled once more as she stepped forward slipping her robe off her shoulders.

She was clad in nothing other than her hat, mask and a loincloth. The wind whipped at her long red hair, fanning it off to her right. Her breasts bounced as the frost crackled under her advancing feet. Every centimeter of exposed skin was covered in seals. Looping black whorls that gleamed wetly in the falling night. In the reflected light of the doorway they seemed to wriggle and writhe about on her flesh. "Make sure you kill everyone but our cargo," she said in a matter of fact voice. "We can't afford any witnesses."

There was a brief pause as both sides stared at each other, and then the battlefield exploded with violence.

The masked men launched a flight of kunai trailing explosive tags that was almost immediately intercepted by a circular rampart of earth. Kakashi finished his jutsu with enough time to shout for everyone to take cover. The resulting detonation flung out a huge cloud of debris that rattled on the roof of the hut.

Mizako coughed and looked up into the stinging smoke. The masked kunoichi stood there unfazed, her hands sliding and twisting across the seals on her body. She must have finished whatever jutsu she was trying to perform because Mizako felt the skin tingling tightness of a gargantuan amount of chakra being released.

The masked woman threw back her head and screamed, the same high pitched, scream that the dark ribbon had made when it was released from the collar. The red haired kunoichi convulsed once and violently flung herself forward, the charms on her hat ringing frantically. The seals covering her body swelled and enveloped her in three great shadowy masses. A twisted black spike erupted out of her back, quickly followed by another… and another and soon a forest of eight shadowy towers hoisted the bulbous cloud containing her body high into the air. Six glowing red eyes opened in the shadow and peered down from on high.

Mizako shivered as the giant demonic spider lifted up its two front legs and shrieked. The masked shinobi charged forward.

Whatever happened to the spider-woman next was blotted out by a huge cloud of summoning smoke, as Kira Inuzuka let loose the jutsu she affectionately called 'The Dogs of War'.

The Inuzuka clan had a close relationship with canines of every breed. They trained with dogs, shared their living space with dogs, ate with dogs… Basically they treated every dog they came across as just another member of the clan. Every Inuzuka had at least one canine companion, a specially trained Nin-ken, one of Konoha's famed ninja dogs, that bonded with them like family and comrade and friend all mixed together.

Of course for every nin-ken that went on to become a fully fledged shinobi hound, there were five that didn't pass the training or weren't obedient enough to be considered 'field ready'... good enough for the typical Konoha mission. These dogs roamed the woods around the Inuzuka homestead in huge packs, hunting, and patrolling, but otherwise being too wild, too feral to be useful in a standard shinobi setting. Most of these dogs lived their lives on the edge of the clan, answering to no one... and they probably would have stayed that way, out of view from everyone, if Kira hadn't come up with this particular jutsu that had incidentally caught the attention of the ANBU high command.

Summoning an animal was a simple enough jutsu. The hard part was getting the animal in question to agree to the contract. Animals that were summoned were either specially bred, or were from one of the quasi-mystical places that touched the spirit world, like Mount Myoboku or the Cave of the Serpent. It should have been impossible for anyone to convince a borderline-wild animal, like the untamed canines living in the Inuzuka lands, to agree to a contract. Even the most talented dog handlers from the Inuzuka clan shied away from these savage creatures.

Kira had one major advantage. She was an excellent chef. Everyone in the Inuzuka compound made sure to get in the dinner line early when it was her duty to cook. It was said the aroma of her meals was enough to bring even the most hardened feral canine back to civilization.

One day she made 50 kilos of dog biscuits and carried them into the woods alongside a scroll to write down the names of any dog who was willing to agree to a very specific summoning contract… She had to go back the next day with two fresh scrolls and four times as many dog biscuits.

The animals she was summoning in her 'Dogs of War' jutsu were far from the best trained. They couldn't be trusted to control themselves on a standard mission… But they did an excellent job of being a slavering, snarling, bloodthirsty mob of sharp fangs and glowing eyes.

Kira drew her weapons, threw back her head and howled. The summoned dogs joined her, loping in an expanding circle from the hut and engaged the enemy. About half of the masked shinobi were held back by the tide of fur and fangs, but the others either lept over or fought their way through. Mizako had enough time to see three of them engage Kakashi, and to see Ay activate his lightning armor and disappear in a blur, before she had to dodge a kusagari that flashed in front of her face. That dodge moved her into the path of a thrown kunai. She twisted around that and ended up having to duck to avoid a staff blow that was aimed at her head.

Things were too crowded and worse, Mizako was separated from Ay and Kakashi. Without knowing where they were in this melee, she couldn't risk using her ranged attacks. As she evaded another blow from a the staff, she realized she did need to get some breathing room for herself at least.

Ox, monkey, ox, snake tiger… Mizako's hands danced through the necessary hand signs. Her brother, in his usual literal attitude for naming techniques, suggested that she call this jutsu the Burning Windmill Dance, but it was Kushina's poetic term she ended up using. Phoenix wings.

Twin fountains of flame flared from each of her palms, each about a meter and a half in length. Mizako held out her arms and spun. There were screams as several of the masked shinobi either dropped to the ground convulsing and rolling, or were tossed away from the sheer force of the jets of plasma coming from her hands.

She found herself in an ever widening circle as most of the robed shinobi either fell or withdrew. Mizako turned in a graceful backflip to give herself some space from the one remaining shinobi. She scissored her arms together trying to catch him between the two blazing bursts, but he managed to somersault neatly between the two. Mizako swung again, bringing both of her hands down in a chopping motion. There was a sizzle followed by a loud crack as the icy ground fractured.

She didn't see him move, but this masked attacker was suddenly striking at her from the left, two quick punches flashing towards her head. Mizako dodged the first, but the second clipped her on the shoulder. Despite the pain she flung out her arm, uncurling a ferocious firestorm right in his face.

Or rather, right where his face should have been. Again, somehow, he had managed to completely evade her attack. She flinched back from the eyeless mask that loomed up on her right. "Oh, I like you," said the man in a syrupy sweet voice. "You are so very spunky… We are going to have so much fun together." Again she unleashed an inferno at him, and once again, he seemed to just blink away.

She felt a tugging at her head and panicked. He was holding one of her braids! Without looking she incinerated the air directly behind her. From somewhere in the surrounding battle echoed his contemptuous laugh. "You have very pretty hair!" his mocking voice called.

Mizako turned her arms in a underhanded loop, blasting the freshly fallen snow to superheated steam, which immediately condensed in the cold, fogging the whole area. She dropped to the ground in a crouch, hiding for a brief second in the damp white clouds.

She swallowed as the figure of the masked man strode right through those clouds, walking straight for her. "Was this supposed to make matters difficult?" he asked in an amused voice. "Or was this just so we could have some privacy while we play our little game?"

Mizako knew this was getting hopeless. She was no close combat fighter. She decided to run, first taking a feinting step to her left, and then putting on a burst of speed to her right. She barely managed to stop in time to avoid running into the masked man. "Oh… Please... run," he said happily. "It makes me so much happier when they run… It's more of a challenge you see."

Mizako didn't bother answering. She just pressed her hands together and created a handful of small tight spheres of incendiary energy. Not her sunburst jutsu, but smaller balls of fire suitable for throwing. She began leaping backwards scattering them at almost random behind her.

No matter where the explosions occurred, the masked man avoided them. She could occasionally see his silhouette, lit up by flares of fire. Mizako knew she wasn't tipping him off, heck, half the time she wasn't even sure where her fireballs were going to land. It was if he could see exactly where they were going to be ahead of time, and avoid them easily. There was only one clan that she knew of that could do something like that - the Uchiha and their sharingan.

"Never take an Uchiha lightly," her brother had told her once. "There is a reason why they are ranked among the strongest clans of the shinobi world… With their sharingan, the weakest Uchiha genin is more than a match for the typical chunin." Mizako had had enough friendly sparring matches with them from her academy days to know the truth of her brother's statements… and now one of them was toying with her. If she was going to survive this she needed a plan… a good one.

Mizako charged up her sunburst jutsu and held it in front of her. "Stand back!" She tried to tell herself her voice squeaking was only an act. "I have friends in the Uchiha clan! I don't want to have to hurt you!"

There was a laugh that echoed through the condensing steam. "An Uchiha? Me? I'm no stinking Uchiha! And besides... A little thing like you hurt me? That is a big nasty jutsu you're waving around there, but you can't even touch me! Where as I…" There was a wrenching sensation on her arm holding the sunburst jutsu. He had seized her wrist in both hands. Mizako cried out as she was yanked up onto her tip toes. The mask loomed in close to her. "... I can touch you whenever I want," the voice hissed.

That was the moment Mizako had been hoping for. Again, there was another sensation of hot pressure right underneath her scar. She lashed out with her feet, wrapping them around him, keeping him from dodging while she launched her other hand towards his mask with all her might and speed.

She'd never tried making two sunburst jutsu at once before. Just one of them was draining, and to be fully honest, this second one was less of a sunburst and more like a large firecracker… but it was strong enough. The masked man saw her glowing fist coming and tried to twist his head away, but her blow caught him underneath the chin, her fist sinking into the fleshy side of his throat.

There was a damp muffled explosion and the masked man fell backwards, making a high pitched whistling noise and clutching at his neck. Mizako's hand was sticky and wet and she told herself not to look at it, but she couldn't help stealing a glance. There was something pink and flapping wrapped around her fingers. She shuddered and shook her hand until it fell away.

And that was when she heard Tohru scream.


	7. Chapter 7

" _They fought like legends. They fought like heroes. Four of them against what had to be at least thirty of the masked men. And the faceless men had brought their monsters with them. I saw both the Tiger mask and the Knight trading blows with the monstrous demon spider that Majo-sama had become. My brothers and I watched in horror and then growing excitement as Mizako did battle with, and then ultimately defeated Tamago. You have no idea how liberating it was to see that shinobi who had beaten us, demeaned us, tormented us over the course of our journey being stood up to… being overcome like that. It gave us something that we hadn't felt for a very long time… hope."_

 _The Storyteller shook her head sadly. "We shouldn't have spent so much time watching from the doorway of the hut. We should have been hiding. A group of three of the masked men saw us peeping and charged the building."_

* * *

 _We slammed the door and did our best to hold it shut, but even three healthy children would have had problems holding the door against three adults. There was a mighty blow and we went tumbling away. I remember looking up in time to see the fist that smashed into my face. "Stupid brat!" snarled an angry voice as sparks of light danced in front of me eyes. "Do you know the trouble you put us through you little…" The voice changed into a falsetto wail as Kyo pounced onto the faceless man's back, digging in with claws and teeth. There was a crunch as one of the faceless man's comrades yanked Kyo from his prey and hurled him into the wall of the hut. Yuki also tried to mount an attack, and received a boot for his trouble. I am ashamed to say that the only thing that crossed my woozy mind at that point was to scream at the top of my lungs._

 _One of the other faceless shinobi took a single step towards me and went down in a snarling mass of dogs. The other was using his katana to block a vicious series of blows from the dog girl's tekko kagi claws. Their duel was fast and furious, and nearly ended when the masked man slipped a backhanded slice through her defenses, catching her along the temple and taking a huge chunk out of her mink mask. Kira kicked him in the stomach and he stumbled back, right into Mizako who had just appeared in the doorway. There was an ear numbing explosion and the masked man's body flew past us and hit the far wall with enough force to shake the whole hut._

 _Mizako was shaking me, asking something, but my ears were ringing and I couldn't make it out. I might have been able to read her lips, but my eyes were glued to the broken corpse smoldering in the far corner._

 _When I finally managed to tear my gaze away, the Tiger masked shinobi was in the hut and Mizako was gone. It didn't take long to figure out where she was. Every so often the snowstorm outside would light up with brilliant flames. Everything still sounded like I was swimming underwater, but I was finally able to comprehend some of the conversation. "There's no way we can keep this up." the Tiger mask said as he was wrapping a bandage around Kira's head. "We must have lost… what, half the dogs by now?"_

" _Closer to two thirds," grumbled Kira. "The good news is that when they reappear back at the Inuzuka compound and go whimpering around looking for someone to treat their wounds, my clan is going to know what's up, and where we are, and send out a rescue team."_

 _The ANBU sighed. "Which, if we're lucky, means they will arrive just in time to bury us," he said with a shake of his head. "If any of us are going to get out of here in one piece, we'll need a huge distraction…" He looked up at the roof of the hut as another explosion went off outside. "And I think I have an idea... watch the kids while I talk to Mizako." He slipped out of the building._

 _My brains must have been scrambled from the blows I took because the next thing I knew, I was in a pile on the floor with Yuki and Kyo. Kyo was badly hurt, worse than the beatings that he used to receive in the cage. Every time he took a breath, he gave a low rattling cough that brought a pink froth to his lips. Yuki was not much better, curled up into a little ball, clutching his sides. The three of us were surrounded by six dogs, not the wilder pack that the dog girl used, but six nin-ken in shinobi uniform. They watched us warily while the adults yelled at each other._

 _The Tiger mask was arguing with the farmer and his wife. They were upset over something that he wanted to do… was insisting that they had to do. "We refuse!" shouted the farmer. "You shinobi think you can just barge in here, getting us normal folk tangled up in your wars! By all rights I should have just shoved the whole lot of you out the door and left you there to be cut up into mincemeat!_

" _At which point you would have no one left to protect you and your wife," growled Ay behind them, causing both the farmers to jump. He leaned over the pair of them, his blood and soot stained face terrifying to behold. "Do you think the shinobi out there would be content to let you be just because you are non-combatants?" He snorted. "In war no one is safe... Kakashi's plan is a good one. Be thankful he decided to give you fair warning on when to flee."_

 _Kakashi nodded. "Thank you." He turned to the surrounding nin-ken and spoke directly to them. "Everyone ready?"_

" _Ready as I'll ever be," grumbled the sour-faced pug dog who was seated just in front of my nose. There was a puff of smoke and the dog was replaced by the shape of a girl. I sat back and cried out in surprise, for she was an exact double of me. I twisted my head around. Each of the other dogs was now an exact duplicate of either Kyo, Yuki or myself._

 _The first mirror me scowled disapprovingly. "Relax kid," she said in the pug dog's voice. "I'm not thrilled to be looking like this either, but the best chance for any of us to make it out of here alive, is for us to all split up."_

 _The idea of that sent a chill through my addled mind. "No!" I yelped grabbing hold of Kyo and Yuki. "I'm not letting them go!"_

 _The Knight chuckled beside as he knelt to pick up Kyo, and slowly help Yuki to his feet. "Don't be afraid child… You and your brothers are coming with us. The two Konoha ANBU and their dogs are just hoping to lure some of our attackers away." He shot a look at the Tiger mask, his eyes narrowing in a look of disapproval. "Although if I was backed up by Kumo shinobi… we would not be fleeing right now."_

" _Too true," said the ANBU with a snort. "Your Kumo shinobi probably would have started running a long time ago."_

 _There was a bang as the front door was flung open and Kira stumbled inside. "I hope you're all ready… because we are out of time people!" she shouted. Three of the dog clones of Yuki, Kyo and I formed up on her position._

 _A half second later Mizako came in as a blur. I'll never forget the look she gave me as she put her arms around me and hoisted me up in a hug. "Don't worry Tohru," she said with a reassuring smile. "Everything is going to be just fine." She turned back to her companions. "Ready?"_

 _And each of them threw a handful of kunai trailing explosive tags at the ceiling moments before Kakashi and Mizako blew out each of the four walls with well placed fireball jutsu._

 _And then I was out in the swirling snow storm being dragged along by a frantically running Mizako. There was a blurred flash of dogs jumping and snapping at an ever tightening circle of masked men, right before the world exploded._

 _I was picked up and tossed by the force of the blast, but Mizako held onto me tightly. She righted my footing and soon she and I were running at top speed across the snowscape, dodging through the trees, with Ay and my two brothers keeping pace."_

 _Until Yuki dug in his heels. "Stop!" he screamed as the Knight dragged him along. "Not that way!" I smelled it too, but neither of us had a chance to answer either Mizako or Ay's questioning look, before twin towering shafts of blackest night swept through the forest canopy, shattering tree trunks and spraying us with chunks of wood and muddy snow._

 _In the ruined clearing the demon spider reared up on its hind legs and screamed at the sky. I covered my ears and shivered to hear the sound._

 _When its display ended there was a pause. Ay put Yuki's hand in mine and gently handed Kyo into Mizako's arms. She staggered a little but managed to carry him. Then he stepped forward a good six paces. "Mizako," he said in a low rumble. "When I create an opening… you take the children and run."_

 _The braided girl's head shook as the knight kept walking forward in a slow deliberate stalk. "Ay… Don't… We'll both fight… we'll fight it together!" she called trying to untangle herself from my hand. I whimpered at her words. As much as I didn't want Ay to leave us, it would be so much worse to be left alone in these woods, which were no doubt crawling with masked shinobi. Mizako looked down at me, and then back at her lover, her face a mask of indecision._

" _Please Mizako," I whispered._

 _She looked at Ay's retreating back. She swallowed once. "Ay!" Mizako called, a hint of desperation in her voice. "Be careful! I…" she stopped and swallowed again. "I… Just don't get killed… okay?"_

 _There was a laughing snort and the Knight tossed his head. "Don't you spare a moment worrying about me Kitten." He stopped his advance and began to weave a series of hand signs. "I've faced monsters far scarier than this." The air surrounding him crackled with energy, becoming thick with the sickly sweet smell of ozone. He began to glow with a blazing white aura. Fat sparks leapt from his flesh and earthed themselves in the ground, lighting the forest with bright, strobe light flashes. "Tohru!" he called out in a good natured tone. "I want you to take good care of Mizako for me. She often gets... silly ideas in her head and needs someone sensible to bring her back down to earth." The storm howled around him, snowflakes flashing away to tiny puffs of steam as they neared him. He paused for a second, glancing back at Mizako as if he were about to add something else, but then he steeled his jaw and turned away._

 _He roared a return challenge to the spider, his voice for one moment overcoming the noise of the blizzard. Then there was just the fluorescent afterglow of his charge._

 _The spider demon snarled and the earth shook. There was the snap and wooden scream of fallen trees. Through it all Ay charged again and again, launching himself at the beast. It was hard to tell who was getting the worse of the battle, the demon or the knight. They were both being knocked about the landscape._

 _It was the moment where Ay leaped straight into the spider's face, and followed it up with a series of blows to its eyes, that Mizako started to move. She wasn't as fast as before, after all she was weighed down by Kyo and trying to drag Yuki and me, but she was still making good speed and using the remaining trees as cover when Ay was hurled past us, neatly splitting a tree trunk._

 _Mizako zigzagged left as a leg constructed of smoky darkness plunged down from the sky and speared the ground where we had been standing moments before. She dodged again as the gigantic demon spider took another lumbering step forward, trying to smash us. Mizako twisted again, shifting her course, only this time Yuki couldn't keep up. He stumbled and his hand slipped from hers. He tried running but tripped over a tree root that was hidden in the snow._

" _Shirt!" spat Mizako. She shoved me behind a tree and unceremoniously dumped Kyo in my lap, before turning back for Yuki. She was never going to make it in time. I saw his eyes go wide as another leg came down._

 _It stopped. Ay grunted as he caught the leg in both arms and then gave an angry snarl as he used his might to force it back up again. With a superhuman effort, he jerked the leg off to one side and swung his hand in a knife edged blow. There was the crack of chitin. The demon arachnid reared up and screeched as Ay's hand sliced cleanly through its exoskeleton in a spray of purple ichor. The demon's head swung down, its twin fangs drizzling venom, stabbing for Ay. He grabbed a mandible in each hand and skidded back a few meters before he could catch his footing again._

 _Ay turned his face from the demon's maw and caught sight of Mizako standing there, staring in horror. "What are you waiting for?" he grunted. "Run!"_

 _I'm not sure what he was planning to do next because in the next moment Mizako ran. She built up speed, leaped to his shoulders and springboarded off of the top of his head, her hands burning as bright as the noontime sun._

 _I felt, rather than heard, the explosion. There was a wave of pressure that washed over me rattling my poor head once again. When the wave of nausea passed, Mizako and Ay were arguing in a crater, surrounded by swirling snow and dissipating wisps of dark smoke that stank of burning hair._

" _...told you to stay out of my way and protect the children!"_

" _I was protecting them!" snapped Mizako, her face a mix of relief and irritation. "Yuki fell! I had to go back for him!"_

" _I gave you an order!"_

 _Mizako put her hands on her hips. "Since when do you have any right to give me orders?"_

 _Ay's face reddened. "I have over two thousand hours of missions logged, twenty three of those missions were A-rank and above... How much experience has your older brother let you have, squirt?"_

 _A hurt look flashed over Mizako's face and was quickly replaced by one of anger. "I have plenty of mission experience," she snarled back. "Unlike your father,_ _my_ _brother doesn't believe in throwing shinobi into the fire just to see if they can survive!"_

" _You will not disrespect the Raikage within my hearing," Ay said in a cold voice._

" _What's the matter Ay?" asked Mizako jabbing him with her finger. "You can dish it out but you can't take it?"_

" _You are insulting the honor of my village."_

" _Oh, like you don't go around declaring the Hokage is incompetent with every other breath?" she yelled._

 _They were both so intent on their little squabble that neither one saw the shadows gathering on the far side of the clearing. I opened my mouth but my throat was dry with fear. "Stop it," I called trying to get their attention._

" _If this is the sort of discipline your brother instills in his shinobi... I don't see how anyone can come to any other conclusion!"_

 _The darkness started swirling in a counterclockwise current, grouping together into a black cloud, slowly sprouting legs. "Stop fighting!" I called out again, louder this time._

" _You're talking to me about discipline?! You did the exact same thing when I ordered you to stay with Tohru earlier!" Her head was arched up as she glared at him._

" _You expect the Raikage's heir to take orders from an enemy shinobi?" he snarled his face red with fury."_

 _There was a pause as meaning of that statement slowly sank in. "Is… is that how you think of me?" Mizako asked in a whisper._

 _Ay's eyes widened as he realized what had slipped out his mouth in that moment of anger. "Kitten…" he said softly, reaching out to comfort her. Still staring at him, her face a mask of hurt. Mizako took a step back. The knight from Kumogakure clenched his jaw tight and slowly turned his head away._

" _Behind you!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. They both looked up as a huge dark spear came swinging down. Ay threw himself over Mizako, his chakra sizzling over his body like an electric suit of armor. In the previous encounter I'd seen kunai, shuriken and other blades bounce away away before they could touch his flesh._

 _But this was no ordinary weapon. This was the unholy fang of an enraged demon. It looked like it met some resistance from Ay's aura on the way down, but nowhere near enough to stop the blow. If it wasn't for the Kumo shinobi's almost supernatural speed, he and Mizako would have been stabbed through… instead of the neat surgical tear bisecting Ay's flack jacket. The ground shuddered with a mighty footstep and we all looked up to glowing red eyes set around a jagged, drooling mandible._

 _This resurrected spider demon staggered back into the clearing, forcing Ay and Mizako to retreat. There were huge cracks in his exoskeleton which leaked a pestilent purple glow. Standing atop him was Majo-sama, still clad in nothing but her mask and becharmed sugesa. One of her arms was hanging limply at her side. The blood dripping off the tips of her fingers ran in streaks down the spider's carapace, staining the snow underneath black in the storm's twilight. I could not see the source of her injury but it must have been severe, for her demon arachnid wavered and was turning transparent in spots, as if she was losing the focus to hold him together._

 _Mizako recovered quickly, throwing a handful of smaller fireballs at the pair of them. The shadowy spider raised its forelegs, the ruined one and the whole, to block them, deflecting two and absorbing the explosion from a third, while once again Majo-sama's hand flashed over her seals. A pair of raven black wings sprouted from her back and covered her. The fireballs bounced harmlessly away._

 _Majo-sama laughed as the crippled spider took another thundering step closer to Mizako, using its bulk to shield her from the braided girl's fiery attacks. She raised her good hand and pointed at Ay. "Well done… well done indeed," she purred. "It has been a very long time since anyone has managed to blood me… Would you indulge a woman and be so forward as to tell me your name?"_

 _Ay made no reply to her. He just very stiffly got to his feet, still glowing with his surrounding field of lightning chakra. Majo-sama's charms rang like bells as she tilted her head curiously. "There is no reason to be shy young man." She waved her hand at the slowly disintegrating arachnid made of night and shadow, and the demon, still blocking Mizako's line of fire, presented the masked woman with its fangs. She ran her fingers down the saw-toothed barb and smiled when they came away red. "It appears I have managed to score a touch on you as well… Has my pet's venom made you weary? I would have wagered an imposing physical specimen like yourself would still be able to maintain the common courtesies… or perhaps," she said, amusement twinkling in her voice, "my very presence frightens you to the point where you have lost the faculty to speak?"_

 _There was a streak of light as Ay charged forward. I missed what happened exactly, but there was another crash as he collided with the dark demon. There was high pitched keening noise from the beast. It staggered and pieces of the monster's hard chitinous shell faded for a moment, but Ay was unable to take advantage because he had collapsed down to one knee._

 _Again, Majo-sama allowed her wings to deflect another spray of fire from Mizako. "From your appearance, temperament and jutsu, would I be safe in assuming that you are the Kumo shinobi known as Ay? The Raikage's heir?" She held her good hand up to her mask, as if inspecting the blood on her fingertips. "Your death would be a great boon for the Land of Fire… most definitely worth the risk of more... drastic measures."_

 _Her hand slid over to a seal splashed across her belly. She touched the seal with a peculiar twisting motion and grunted as if in pain. When she pulled her hand away there was a small black orb nestled in her palm, pulsing as if it had a heartbeat. A moment of eerie dead quiet filled the woods. Even the storm seemed to pause and stare at this… this thing. "Blood for you to bind my pet," Majo hissed. She closed her hand and with a dark purple flash, the orb disappeared._

 _This whole time, even with all the wounds he had taken in the various battles, I had never heard Ay cry out in pain. He threw back his head and screamed, tearing at his back with his hands. A spider's web of thin black lines could be seen worming their way under his skin at the back of his exposed neck and shoulders. As he squirmed there, his lightning chakra armor flickered once, and went out._

 _The spider demon awkwardly took another huge step forward and raised its two hairy forelegs. They swung down and met an arc of flame so hot it was burning bright blue. Mizako had moved, standing in front of the wounded Ay. The spider's limbs met the licking flames and they crackled and burst in the heat, jets of superheated steam forming fog geysers from its joints._

 _The demon lumbered to one side and charged again, this time heading for Yuki. There was a swirling trail of snow left in Mizako's wake as in the blink of an eye, she planted herself in front of my brother, again filling the air with fire, a still impressive jutsu, albeit noticeably smaller than the previous one. Thus began a slow dance of death between Mizako and the arachnid… Each time the monster lunged forward it would be met with hellishly hot fires that would tear away chunks of its flesh, boiling them away into clouds of eye stinging smoke._

 _But each time it was turned away, Mizako would move more slowly, her next flame jutsu would have a shorter reach... And the subsequent demon charge would take the monster a half a meter closer to us. This battle had turned into a duel between will and strength, a fading, yet determined young woman against a gargantuan undead spider. I couldn't tell which would falter first, Mizako's flames or Majo's monster._

 _The demon made one last brutal charge, forcing itself forward through the heat. At its mistresses urging, it thrust its gaping maw through the firewall. The spider gave a high pitched keening wail as three of its eyes burst in the baking flames, but its good eyes were fixed on Mizako, standing over a collapsed Ay and a whimpering Yuki. A long string of drool fell from its snapping jaws and left a bubbling, smoking patch on the frozen ground._

" _There was a harsh white flare that lit up the clearing, brighter than high noon. Ay had somehow forced the last few dregs of chakra he had remaining into his strong right arm... And as the demon arachnid breached the firewall, he sprang up with a roar, striking with his right hand just under the spider's mandible._

 _His arm sank in up to the shoulder. There was an unearthly white glow shining through the demon's maw and reflected in its eyes. This battlefield tableau sat there frozen for a moment. Then the knight heaved against the spider's carapace with all his might. There was a crack and his arm came free. He dropped to the ground with a painful sounding thud, his right arm covered in steaming purple ichor and trailing wisps of foul smoke._

 _There were more cracking noises, followed by a series of little musical rings as chunks of the spider began to crumble off and fall. Smoke began to rise from its body as the fissures spread. This unraveling traveled back into the thorax and creeped into the demon's abdomen. One by one the legs faltered and the back of the beast started to list, bucking off its mistress as it disintegrated piece by piece. Mizako seized the collar of Ay's flak vest, adding her strength to his, trying to pull him out from under the decaying monster. Then suddenly there was a wet sounding pop. The remaining fragments of the monster dissolved into a dizzying whirlwind of shadow that was sucked back into Majo-sama._

 _Majo was hovering in the air, using her wings to keep aloft. She stared down at the exhausted, wounded group below her and giggled, an unpleasant sound. She soared around the clearing as she laughed, ducking between branches heavy with snow. "Well Ay-san," she called, her voice fading in the blizzard, "since we are both injured and I apparently am in no condition to finish this, we will have to meet again at a later date." We heard the flapping of wings for a while, but soon even that was lost in the sound of the howling wind._

 _Ay reached out a hand, trying to find purchase on tree to pull himself standing. Mizako reached underneath him and did her best to haul Ay to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked, her face full of worry._

" _We have no time… to stand about in shock… like a bunch of weak… pathetic… sniveling... failures," he said through gritted teeth. "We must... leave this place."_

" _It can wait," insisted Mizako, reaching out for him. "You're hurt. we need to…"_

 _He brushed her hand aside. "I said... we need to leave this place… now!" he insisted. He shook his head at the pained look she shot him. "She could be back any moment with reinforcements." He hobbled over to Kyo and, with a grunt, scooped him up. Then he started to blindly march off into the snow._

" _Ay! Wait!" cried Mizako, she grabbed my hand and Yuki's and ran after him._


	8. Chapter 8

Someone was shaking her, trying to get her to wake up. But it was cold out there, and right now she was soft and warm. Mizako made a little growl of displeasure, brushed the hand away, and tried to snuggle back down under the blankets.

She couldn't find them. She must have kicked them all off in the middle of the night again. She rolled over and buried her face in her mattress, which was unbelievably warm and smelled wonderful.

There was another tentative prodding, this time in her back. "Just five more minutes Kushina," she muttered. "I won't be late this time… I promise."

There was a pause, and then an urgently whispered conversation began. That was easy enough to ignore. She yawned and let the warm clouds of sleep caress her once more. Again, she was poked much harder and rougher this time. "What do you want?" Mizako asked, keeping her eyes closed.

"Tohru really needs to pee, only she's too scared to go outside by herself," said a young grouchy voice. "I keep telling her to go in the corner but she doesn't want to 'cause she's afraid you'll beat her for that… Do you want her to use the pot instead?"

Mizako's eyes snapped open. The previous day's events came back to her in a screaming rush. She sat up suddenly and instantly regretted it.

Every muscle she had was cramped and aching. She had pins and needles everywhere. Her mouth tasted sour. Mizako glanced at the three children and then confusedly looked at her surroundings.

They were still in the shack they had discovered in the middle of that blizzard. She had fallen asleep, sprawled across Ay out of sheer exhaustion. Ay was slumped in a corner of the hut, his head tilted back and a thin string of drool running out of the corner of his mouth. The dull rasp of a snore could be heard echoing in his throat.

The three siblings were standing in front of her. The shorter boy, Kyo, was giving her a look of scowling disapproval. He was the one who had woken her up. The taller boy, Yuki, was staring at her with a look of wary concern, as if he was waiting to see what action she would take, and what his reaction would be based on that.

The girl, Torhu, had her knees locked together and was bouncing up and down anxiously.

The girl's little dance, was a cue for her own bladder to signal its own pressing issues. "Right," said Mizako, stiffly getting to her feet. "Potty break." She stretched and heard her spine pop at least four times. "Let's go everyone."

The morning was clear, but bitterly cold. Yuki and Torhu were out in the tree line, taking care of business. While she waited, Mizako did jumping jacks in the snow, making an attempt to bring some flexibility back into her protesting body while also trying to keep warm. With her most important biological issue taken care of, her body immediately started to bring up another issue… she hadn't eaten anything yesterday aside from a few food pills she had hastily gulped down as she ran out the door that morning and that ridiculously overpriced bowl of soup at the farmer's house. Mizako found herself eyeing the partially dammed up frozen pond and the shallow stream, as her stomach kept nudging her brain.

She wasn't half bad at fishing. In fact, back in her Academy days, Mizako would spend the summer months wading the feeder creeks surrounding Konoha, keeping an eye out for larger trout basking on the muddy bottoms. Even back then she was quick enough that she could scoop them out of the stream with her bare hands and carry them home to a pleased Kushina.

Of course, she wasn't about to go wading in the creek now... in these temperatures that would be a recipe for frostbite. Mizako turned and stuck her head back in the hut. She smiled to herself, happy that the owner of the hut had left behind his tattered net and wobbly fishing spear. The shorter boy shot her a quizzical look as she silently took both poles off the wall and tiptoed back outside.

Kyo got up to follow and hobbled after her on his bruised legs, arms folded, giving her a suspicious glare. "Do you need to go too?" asked Mizako, pointing after his siblings.

He shook his head. "I already went."

"Not in the hut I hope," said Mizako suspiciously.

The boy snorted. "Please, I woke up sometime before dawn and went outside." His lips curled down in a frown. "That big jackass snores like an earthquake."

Mizako was about to agree when her still sleepy brain parsed that sentence. "Hey!" she snapped, putting her hand imperiously on her hip. "I thought I told you to watch your mouth!"

The boy snorted. "I heard what you said… You said you were going to wash my mouth out with soap." His lips turned up in a smirk. "Is that where you're heading off to now? To make soap?"

"Listen to me young man, where I come from young people do not speak that way in polite company!" she said sternly. "Now I told you once before that I would not accept that language in my presence. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Who gives a shit what… Ow!" he cried out as Mizako grabbed his ear and pulled.

"If you are well enough to stand there and swear, you are certainly well enough to help out," Mizako said coldly.

Kyo squirmed as she pulled him towards the frozen river. "Hey! Stop it!" he cried. "What gives lady? What kind of a nut job are you?"

"The kind of nut job who insists on proper manners!" Mizako growled pulling him onto the icy banks of the small frozen over pond. "Now come on over here!"

Kyo was really starting to struggle now. "I am not going near that water!" he snapped. He was trying to sound tough but there was a quaver in his voice.

"You most certainly are!" Mizako grunted as she tugged. Kyo was really thrashing about now. She held on to him as she scrambled down the banks of the pond and stomped on the ice with her heel. It held firm. She knelt, and dug under the snow sullying it with sand and gravel. She found what she was looking for and pulled a fist-sized stone from the frozen mud and tossed it out to the center of the pool. The ice there snapped with a high musical sound and splashed into the sluggish current.

The weight shifted in her hand. Kyo's ear started to turn thin and fuzzy in her fingers. She quickly let go and managed to snag him by the back of the thick shirt he was now wearing. There was a high pitched yowl and the young lion cub trapped in the clothes twisted about wildly, striking out with its claws.

"What are you doing to Kyo?" called out a terrified voice. Mizako turned and saw Tohru, right behind her. Yuki was some distance away but running towards them across the snow.

"Your brother needs to learn to stop swearing… so as a punishment he's going to help me get breakfast!"

"Don't make him go in the water!" Tohru called out, running towards them and grabbing the still dangling cub snagged in the shirt. Kyo sank both paws into Tohru's jerkin and hung there in a scrambling panic. There was a moment of comical swaying as Tohru fought against gravity and lost. She sat down heavily in the snow. "He doesn't like the water," she said by way of an explanation, rubbing her sore behind.

Mizako shook her head. "We're not going in the water, it's freezing! We're going on top of it." She used the long end of the net to prod around the edge of the pond. She felt it knock against stone and cautiously stepped forward. "Fishermen make these pools by building stone walls across spawning streams. It gives the fish a safer place to lay their eggs. You can guarantee a larger catch this way." Using the pole to feel for the wall ahead of her, Mizako walked her way into the center of the pond. "Whatever the season, the wall gives you something to stand on when you go fishing."

There was a stumbling noise behind her as Yuki inched his way toward her using her footsteps as a path. "What makes you think there are any fish in there?" he asked curiously.

Roughly in the center of the pond, Mizako used her net to break through the thin layer of ice. She lifted out the larger chunks of ice with her net to clear the space. Soon she had a small hole of lapping dark brown water. "My Brother's sensei takes me fishing every now and then. I think Kushina actually approves when I go with him, she says it keeps him out of trouble. Anyway, as Jiraiya-sensei says: "You'll find fish in practically every stream, lake, and pond. They may not be big, and they may not be anything that you could sell at a market, but there's bound to be something that you can eat… and really isn't that the important thing?"

It was windy out in the middle of the pond and she paused for a moment to warm her hands in her armpits. "So how are you going to catch them?" Yuki asked curiously. "With the net?"

Both of them turned at a loud crackling of the ice. Tohru, staggering under the weight of a transformed Kyo, who was trying to claw his way up her shoulders, was trying to teeter her way along the dam. Only Kyo's squirming must have caused her to stray from the path. She staggered on to the ice. It held but it complained loudly. "Careful now," said Mizako, running back and offering her a hand. "It would be no fun if you fell in here." She guided the pair of them back to Yuki. With a grunt Tohru unhooked the lion cub from her shoulders and put him down. Kyo yowled a bushy tailed protest, but the girl shushed him and stepped closer to Mizako.

Mizako lowered herself to the ice and pulled out one of her kunai. Carefully, she started chipping, enlarging the rough hole through the ice. "Oh, we'll use the net... eventually… we just need some way to get the fish to the surface first," she said to answer Yuki's previous question. "Usually, when net or spear fishing, you have to bait the water with something to attract the fish."

"Bait it with what?" asked Tohru.

"Worms, bugs, fish guts," said Mizako with a shrug at Tohru's sudden bout of queasiness. "Whatever we can find."

Yuki gave her a look. "It's winter… how are we going to find anything?"

Mizako gave him a mischievous smile. "I asked Jiraiya sensei the exact same thing once… and he told me, you have to think like a hungry fish." She stood up from the ice and pulled her spool of tripwire from her equipment pouch and set it down on the dam. Using her kunai, she cut about eight centimetres length worth of hair from the end of her braid. She separated the lock of hair into four parts and began looping them and tying them.

"Merow?" asked Kyo the lion cub questioningly.

"What, this?" she asked holding up the knotted hairy loop. "This is what the fish are going to be biting after." Mizako bunched up a small gathering of her hair and used another strand to tie it around the loop, twisting it into a shape that could pass for the wings of a fly. She held it up for Kyo's inspection. "See?" she asked him before twisting it onto the tripwire.

In a few minutes she had four 'flies' twisted into the wire and was jerking it away to keep the lion cub from batting at it. "Stop it!" she admonished with a snicker. "We need that!" She tied the wire to the end of the fishing spear and dangled it through the icy hole into the water. "Here," she said, handing the pole off to Yuki.

He looked surprised, but held on. "What do I do with it?"

"Just hold onto it. If you feel something pull on the wire, just lift it up very slowly. We want to attract the fish as close to the surface as we can." Mizako took the net, and rested its edge right next to the ice hole. Then she waited.

Those were either the best flies she had ever tied or the fish were starving. Moments after dipping them in the water, Yuki gasped. "Something's there!" he said excitedly.

"Good!" whispered Mizako, "Start lifting it out… remember go slowly." Little by little the wire came out of the water. Soon a pale grey shape could be seen darting up from the murky depths, chasing the line.

With a deft move that would have made Jiraiya proud, she slid the net sideways into the hole, turned and yanked. Everyone squealed as the carp wildy flopped about in the netting.

It wasn't huge, but it was big enough to make her mouth water. She dumped it in the snow right in front of Kyo. "Hold on to that!" she ordered and waved at Yuki to lower the bait again.

They caught five more, which was most fortuitous because Kyo's face was buried in the first fish by the time she snagged the second carp. She had to laugh at the innocent look he was trying to give her with his whiskers covered with fish blood and scales.

The four of them took their catch back to the hut, breaking a handful of sticks off the trees at they went. Ay was still snoring when they entered but started to stir as they built up the fire. He sat up as Mizako lit it and let out a long string of barking coughs. Mizako went over to him as he rubbed his chest and frowned.

"Are you doing okay?" she asked, pulling at his shirt to check on his wound.

Ay brushed her off. "I'm tired and sore… but that's nothing a hot meal won't fix." He stared at her and for a second his eyes crinkled in a smile. "And since I'm sure we don't want to be eating charcoal, you'd best let me do the cooking Kitten."

Kyo ate a whole other carp, cooked this time, and passed out almost immediately afterwards. He lay, stretched out, all four paws up in the air, in a puddle of sunlight that streamed in through a small cobwebbed window. Yuki shifted as well and curled up in a tight little ball in the small corner of daylight his brother wasn't hogging. Despite his insistences that he was fine, Ay started nodding off in the corner of the hut. The last thing he said before he started snoring again was to tell Mizako to wake him when it was his turn to stand watch.

The sun slowly climbed higher into the sky and Mizako was very happy that the air was warming up. In fact provided she could stay out of the wind, it felt almost pleasant. There were a few scattered bird calls and the occasional thump as clumps of melting snow fell from a bent tree limb. Yesterday had been a very hard day and Mizako felt her eyelids drooping as she sat under the overhang of the hut.

"Um… Mizako-sama?" They snapped open at the sound of Tohru's voice. "Would it be okay if I… sat with you for a while?"

Mizako smiled at the girl and patted her hand on the loose pile of firewood. "That would be great. You could help me stay awake."

The girl gave her a hesitant bow and hopped up on the dusty firewood. She sat there for a while, staring at Mizako, kicking her feet back and forth and shyly looking away every time Mizako glanced over at her. She recognized that standoffish behavior. It was the same thing she had done to Jiraiya-sensei when her brother had told a curious, six year old Mizako that one of the legendary Sannin was stopping by for dinner. "So," Mizako started awkwardly, trying to put the girl at ease. "Did you want to… talk about something?" The girl blushed and wildly shook her head. "Oh, that's too bad," Mizako said, hiding her smile, "because I find that talking to someone is the best way to stay awake when you're standing guard."

"Really?" asked Tohru.

"Really," said Mizako with a nod. There was a pause as Tohru's mouth opened and closed a few times. Mizao gave her a nudge. "I mean, if you don't want to ask me anything that's fine, but I would really appreciate it if maybe you could try to come up with something…"

For a second, Mizako thought it might be too much for the girl, but eventually Tohru took a deep breath and blurted out, "How do you get your hair in braids like that?"

Mizako laughed. Tohru immediately blushed bright red, covered her mouth with one hand and started apologizing. "No no, it's fine," said Mizako. "I just wasn't expecting your first question to be about hair styles, that's all. Here, lean forward and I'll show you." Tohru tilted her head. Mizako took hold of the girl's greasy, stringy blond locks, examined them for a second, and then produced a small brush from her equipment pouch and began to attack her snarls and tangles. "This will take a moment. I just need to clean this out a bit."

"Sorry," said Tohru with a cringe.

Mizako smiled at her. "Hey," she said reassuringly. "It's not your fault at all." She scowled at a particularly difficult tangle. "But when we get back to Konoha, the three of you will definitely need a bath."

Tohru winced. "Don't tell Kyo that."

Mizako laughed again. "Okay," she said once Tohru's hair was brushed to her satisfaction, "here's basically how it works. You divide your hair into three ropes and then you weave them together like so." Her fingers flew, up, over, down and cross… up, over, down and cross. "See?"

Tohru's mouth was hanging open. "How did you do that?"

"It's easy once you get used to it… Here." Mizako unraveled the braid, took Tohru's hands in hers and repeated the motions. "There… now you try."

Thirty seconds later she was trying to untie the knot in Tohru's hair. "This is too hard for me," the girl said despondently.

Mizako shook her head. "You're doing fine. I only taught you a minute ago. You just need practice." Mizako grinned. "You should have seen the mess my hair was in the first time I tried to do this. My mother and brother laughed for a good ten minutes before they tried to untie me."

"They laughed at you?"

"In a nice way… I did look pretty funny." Mizako put her hands over Tohru's and went through the braiding motions with her again. "I think my mother had to do this with me a thousand times before I finally got the hang of it enough to do it myself."

Tohru was quiet for a while. "So… your mother taught you how to do this?"

Mizako nodded as her fingers moved. "She insisted. She was a firm believer that all women should have long hair… you should have seen how long hers was… it was the hardest thing in the world for her even to trim off a few millimeters. I don't think she ever cut mine when I was growing up." Mizako smiled wistfully. "I was such a wild clumsy child though… all that running about town or in the forest used to snag and snarl my locks something awful. So my mother took to braiding them. I liked it. It kept my hair under control, so I kept doing it." She paused for a moment to swat at Tohru with her left braid, before using the bristle to tickle the girl's nose. "Besides, these make great improvised weapons, don't they?"

Tohru giggled. "Don't you get tired of keeping your hair the same way all the time?" She grew embarrassed at Mizako's questioning look and mumbled an explanation. "One of our masters had a wife who used to complain a lot. She was always saying she needed to try something new."

Mizako shrugged. "Sometimes for special occasions I'll go with something fancier… but most of the time, nope… this is it." Mizako sighed. "Honestly, I know that ...some people like my hair loose better, and would prefer it if I wore it down all the time, but trust me, it is much more manageable this way."

"What does your mother say when you wear it down?" Mizako's hands froze for a fraction of a second. "I'm sorry Mizako-sama," Tohru apologized immediately, "did I say something wrong?"

"My mother… hasn't seen my hair in quite some time," Mizako said quietly. Her fingers began braiding again, almost absent-mindedly this time. "She... died when I was a little girl."

There was a sharp inhalation of breath from Tohru as she tore herself away from Mizako, turned on her knees, and bowed. Pulling away like that must have hurt, Mizako was left with long strands of hair twisted between her fingers, but the girl never made a sound. Not even a whimper. "I beg your forgiveness Mizako-sama, I shouldn't have…"

"It's fine Tohru," Mizako said tenderly, helping her back up. "Really, you couldn't have known… It happened a long time ago. Usually it doesn't bother me, but I guess I'm feeling... a little sentimental today." Her hands dropped to her side. "My father was a serving shinobi, going on missions and such. Mother retired from active duty as a medical-nin once she had my older brother, but she still kept working at Konoha hospital…" Mizako's voice trailed off into silence and Tohru was worried for a moment that she wouldn't continue, but she shook her head and took a deep breath. "One day, Father never came back from his mission and Mama... Mama just faded away. Nothing I could do or say would bring her back. Minato tried as well once he realised how deep she had sunk, but it was too late. He... We couldn't bring her back to us. One day she was there, the next she... wasn't. A patrol found her shoes and coat carefully folded at the top of the great gorge, and nothing else." Mizako bit her lip and exhaled. She reached over and gave the girl what she hoped was a reassuring pat. "Here, why don't you give the braiding another go?" she asked with a smile.

Tohru weaved the hair with her fingers, refusing to look up. She looked at the lumpy misshapen braid in her hands and grunted with disappointment. "I'm sorry Mizako-sama... I can't do it," she said bitterly.

Mizako shook her head. "Don't give up! You're getting there! This one is much better than the last one… Here," she said, taking Tohru's hands again," we'll practice for a bit more."

The girl leaned back against her. "Thank you Mizako-sama."

"You're welcome… and please, no honorifics… just call me Mizako."

Mizako could hear the smile in the girl's voice. "Thank you… Mizako." There was a long silence, broken only by the rustle of hair. After a while Tohru shifted. "Mizako-sa… Mizako, may I ask you another question?" She continued when she felt Mizako's nod. "When your parents died, were you…" The girl's voice trailed away, unsure of what to ask. "What happened?" she settled on.

Mizako grinned and her hands moved a little faster. "My brother happened. Minato is called the definitive genius of his generation. The great Jiraiya-sama, one of the legendary sannin, requested him specifically as a pupil. When the Third War broke out, he made a name for himself on the battlefield as the most feared of all Konoha shinobi… 'The yellow flash' they called him."

"I heard Ay-sama say they fought," Tohru said quietly, "It sounded like they were evenly matched… Your brother must be very fierce."

Mizako giggled. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? And he can be very fierce at times… But he's only that way when he has to be."

"Anyway… well before the war… My brother had just been promoted to jonin when my mother… went away. On top of his usual missions, he had been spending a significant amount of time sitting in council meetings and familiarizing himself to the clan heads and the minor lords of the Land of Fire. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi-sama, was grooming him as a possible successor… to be perfectly honest, Sarutobi-sama wanted Jiraiya-sensei to take his place when he retired, but Jiraiya-sensei wanted nothing to do with it… So in a sense, the mantle fell to his prize student."

"Minato was under incredible pressure to think of his career and think of the village. He and Kushina had just announced their intentions to get married… he had so much going on in his life already, no one would have blamed him if he let the charities of Konoha take care of his much younger sister."

"The same day they announced my mother as 'missing, presumed dead' he marched into the Hokage's office to petition for full parental rights over me and to raise me in his own household. Most people were shocked that such a young man would take on such a heavy, cumbersome chore as raising a four year old. They thought he acted out of guilt, that he was trying to make up for failing to save our mother and was throwing his future away… Behind his back there were a lot of whispers, pointed fingers and tut-tutting. Everyone was talking about how such a promising shinobi was going to be wasted wiping the runny nose on a whiny little girl."

"After a few weeks though, all the negative speculation stopped. Somehow he was able to take care of me and continue on doing everything he needed to do." Mizako shrugged. "Kushina helped him a lot." Mizako giggled. "Of course, back then 'help' mostly meant playing dolls with me whenever I demanded it. As I grew, I began to treat her less like some sort of glorified babysitter and learned to accept her into our family."

Tohru yawned and snuggled in closer to Mizako. "What was your father like?"

Even though the girl's hands dropped away, Mizako kept on braiding her hair. "I don't remember that much about my father... Let's see, he had hair like mine, very dark brown, and eyes of a blue so deep they could look black in the shadows." Mizako thought for a moment and grinned. "Whenever he got back from a mission we would always play the buzzing bee game."

"The buzzing bee game?" asked Tohru, a little drowsily.

Mizako nodded. "He would sing, 'Here flies the little bee, Buzzing, buzzing along with me!'" She playfully flapped Tohru's braids as if they were a pair of wings, but as she did so, her smile grew a little melancholy. "I would run away squealing and he would catch me by the waist and twirl me in the air so fast my hair would whip back and forth… And then I'd laugh and he'd laugh and say, 'There goes the buzzy bee! Bzzz Bzz Bzz! Look at my daughter flying away!'"

"Mom would always tell him to stop playing such dangerous games... she was always worrying I would get hurt or get too dizzy and get sick... but I never did. The only times I hurt myself were when I was trying to imitate the things that I saw Father and Minato doing."

Mizako gave a little half chuckle. "The very first time I saw Minato use chakra to climb a cliff, I tried to do the same. Surprisingly enough, I managed to get up about half way without losing the control of my chakra flow, but then…" She made a whistling noise and mimed someone falling with her hand.

"Were you okay?"

Mizako shook her head and winked at Tohru. "Luckily for me I have the best brother in the world. He hadn't seen me following him, but he heard my scream of panic as I started to tumble back and roll down the cliffside. He was there in the blink of an eye and snatched me out of the air before I hurt myself too much."

"I was a mess of scrapes and bruises. To prevent me from being punished by mother, he took me to Jiraiya-sensei to have me patched up a bit so it wouldn't look as bad... when my bruises had started to fade Minato started to train me a little bit on his own. Later on, when I entered the Academy, both he and Kushina would help me out with my assignments. When I graduated and became a genin and Minato became Hokage, I spent my time being personally trained by Kakashi, who was once my brother's prize student."

Tohru sat up against Mizako, fidgeting and thinking. "So… so when you went to live with Minato… Kushina became your new mother?"

Mizako shook her head. "Kushina is… more like an older sister to me. She can be quite… peculiar at times, but I love her. After all, she put up with me all through my childhood. She could have protested. I'm sure she was looking forward to enjoying her blossoming marriage and living blissfully with Minato… not raising a grieving four year old. But despite that, she took me in and welcomed me with warmth and care."

"We butted heads a lot, especially when I got old enough to enter the Academy. I was such an insufferable brat for a while." Mizako tossed her head arrogantly and put her hands on her hips. "I was the sister of the Hokage! And who was she? Some refugee from a village that didn't even exist any more!" she said in a mocking snobbish voice. "Why should I have to listen to her when she told me to eat my vegetables, or do my homework, or go to bed early, or anything at all?"

"So did you?" asked Tohru.

"Did I what?"

"Did you listen to her?"

Mizako snorted. "Of course I did!"

"Why?"

"Because, everyone who spends any time around Kushina learns really quickly, the one thing you do not want to do… is make her upset." Mizako gave a dramatic shiver. "She doesn't even have to say a word. All she needs to do is look at you."

"Oh," said Tohru in a small voice.

"Oh, it's not like that!" exclaimed Mizako. "She's not mean, not really… but when she gets upset… she just… she gets this… look in her eye..." Mizako paused in thought for a second. "She just has these, peculiarities, these ideas about how things should be and how people should behave… She's very big on respect. Even more important to her than that though, is swearing."

"Really?"

"Really. No one can swear in her house or within her hearing." Mizako dropped her voice down to a whisper. "There was this one time that Sarutobi-sama stopped by our house to have tea with my brother. They were going over some huge meeting they just had with the Daimyo... I don't know what it was about but the Hokage was very worked up over how stubborn the Daimyo was being, and in a moment of frustration called him a... very bad name."

"I was playing over in the corner, pretending not to listen, when all of a sudden the door to the den crashed open. Kushina stood there, glaring at the three of us, her red hair flailing about as if there was a hurricane. "Who said that?" she growled in a low rasp. Minato and I must have both involuntarily glanced at the Third Hokage, and she turned her fearsome gaze on the old man. The Hokage upset over the interruption, just stared back at her with a scowl. The tension mounted until I was holding my breath."

"It was the Hokage who blinked first. He exhaled slowly, and begged her to forgive a forgetful old man for his use of inappropriate language. Kushina gave a satisfied nod, and slowly shut the door behind her." Mizako giggled. "Almost nobody can get away with anything crass in Kushina's presence… The only one I've ever known to get close, is Jiraiya-sensei… and that's because he's very creative with his words."

"Who is Jiraiya-sensei? You mentioned him before," Tohru mumbled.

"Jiraiya is one of the legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf village... the Legendary Toad sage... the soon to be world famous author… all the women love him and all the men want to be him!" proclaimed Mizako, imitating his voice and striking the best heroic pose she could while sitting down on a woodpile.

Tohru gave her a very sceptical look. "What's a Sannin?"

"In one of the more recent wars, Jiraiya-sensei's three man squad distinguished themselves in battle. They were given the nickname the 'The Sannin'... the three shinobi." Mizako shrugged. "Of course these days, Jiraiya is really the only one around. One of them left the village and... retired from shinobi life to… travel I guess, and the other is so absorbed in his research that hardly anyone sees him anymore. I doubt you'll ever meet those two, but when you come back to Konoha with me, you'll definitely meet Jiraiya."

"What's he like?" mumbled Tohru sleepily. There was a pleased grin on her face.

"Jiraiya sensei? He has got to be one of my most favorite people! When I was still in the academy, he used to show up at our house all the time unannounced, but that was okay because he was always welcome. Kushina and my brother were always so overworked with missions and duties and me that they would start to snap at each other or me, and then all of a sudden Jiraiya-sensei would breeze right in with that big booming laugh of his, brightening everything up with his jokes and the latest stories of his adventures. At some point he'd always ask me what changed in the village while he was away and I'd offer to show him the new stores that opened, or the hawk's nest down by the training field, or how that fallen tree blocking the river made the perfect swimming pool. Then he'd laugh and he'd lead me out the door saying something like, 'Come on Kiddo, let's leave these poor adults to their boring chores,' and we'd head out for the whole day. He'd buy me ice cream and we'd go fishing, or exploring, or sometimes we'd just wander around Konoha. When we got back Kushina and Minato were always more exhausted than ever, and they hadn't managed to make the tiniest headway on their duties, but they were always in a much better mood."

"But what I like about him most of all is that he always has the funniest stories! He would talk non stop the whole time we were out… about old friends, about his new adventures…" Mizako stopped and grimaced. "Of course, now that I'm older I realize why I got into trouble every time I tried to retell his stories during lunch at the Academy… especially that one about the milkmaid… I thought I was being clever, explaining the innuendo to all the other kids. You should have seen the way Yuhi-sensei's face turned so red that time. I thought he was about to explode…"

Mizako heard a soft rasping noise and looked down. Tohru was curled up, her head resting in Mizako's lap, snoring. Mizako smiled and kept on stroking the girl's hair.


	9. Chapter 9

" _The three us us spent the next few days eating and sleeping and not doing much else. By nightfall of the second day it was getting harder for Mizako to find carp in the pool. She was beginning to get worried that it might be all fished out."_

" _The other problem we were having, was Ay. The knight was exhausted all the time. He had developed a heavy, wet sounding cough that woke him up in the night. Mizako used the pot she found in the hut to boil water to wash out his wound, but it didn't seem to help much. He was sick and he wasn't healing."_

 _The storyteller shifted her legs again to keep them from going numb and looked around the fire circle. There were many more faces in the dancing light than there were when she started. A handful of adults had joined the cubs to hear her story. "My brothers and I could smell what was happening to the man… he was dying from the inside out. He was dying because of the thing Majo-sama had put inside of him."_

 _The storyteller saw two heads dip close and heard an indistinct mutter over the crackling of the fire. "Why didn't we do anything about it?" she asked loudly. The muttering stopped. "Because we were scared… Life had taught us that it was foolhardy to act on our own violation. Life had taught us that displeasing the master led to being beaten. Life had taught us that taking the initiative was dangerous." She shrugged. "We know better… now."_

" _Mizako was off foraging. Yuki, Kyo and I were playing just outside the hut. We told ourselves that we wanted to give Ay a chance to rest… but really we wanted to get away from the smell. We were playing a game where we would set a group of logs end down in the snow, and then we would have to throw another log into the group to try to knock them all down. Kyo was accusing Yuki of cheating, saying he was setting the targets too far apart, and Yuki was mocking him, calling him weak, when we heard a crash from inside the hut."_

" _We turned and looked at each other, unsure of what to do. 'Ay-sama?' I called nervously creeping towards the door. 'Are you okay? We heard a noise…" Again the storyteller shook her head. "I was still so bound up in manners and protocol… I was still so afraid of saying the wrong thing that somehow would earn me a beating."_

* * *

 _I peeked around the door jam to see him writhing on the floor, groaning in pain, clawing at his back. He heard my cry and looked up. His teeth were clenched tight and his forehead and hair were drenched with sweat. "Bee," he grunted, "Where are you? I need you! Bee!_

 _We looked at each other. "Do you mean Bee-san?" I hazarded. I had overheard Mizako and Kira talking about someone with that name earlier. "I do not think he is here, Ay-sama."_

 _His eyes were bright with fever. He was lost in a world of mad dreams. "Mizako then!" he commanded. "Go and get Mizako!"_

 _The three of us stood there staring. It was Yuki who moved first. It was Yuki who took the first chance. He gave Kyo a shove. "Go get Mizako-sama!" he yelled. "Bring her back here!" he yelled after Kyo's retreating form. He jumped down to Ay and started trying to pull his vest off. The shinobi from Kumogakure was thrashing about, alternately beating at his chest or trying to dig at his back, and Yuki couldn't hold him still long enough to unfasten his armor. "Tohru!" he snapped as he struggled. "Help me!"_

" _What do you want me to do?" I whimpered._

 _Yuki dodged an elbow. "I don't know… Sit on him! Get him to calm down! Talk to him!" He grunted as he was tossed off and rolled into the wall. "Do something!"_

 _I took a cautious step into the hut. "Um… Mister Ay?" I asked timidly. "Could you please… hold still?" He ignored me completely._

" _Not like that!" shouted Yuki as he jumped across Ay's back. "Help me!"_

 _I dove down on my knees and grabbed his face in my hands. His eyes were screwed shut as he tossed his head back and forth. "Ay-sama! Calm down! It's me Tohru! We're going to help you, but you have to calm down!" Ay groaned and writhed on the floor, not hearing a word I said. Yuki tackled his legs, but one foot slipped free and slammed forcefully against the wall shaking the hut and spraying us with dust from the roof._

 _I took a deep breath. "STOP IT!" I screeched at the top of my lungs._

 _The scream rang the hut like a bell. I could hear it echoing back and forth in the ravine. Yuki clapped his hands up over his ears. Thankfully, Ay opened his eyes again._

 _They were darting wildly from side to side, but he saw me and recognized me. "Tohru," he rasped._

 _I was grinning like a madwoman. "Good... You're awake. Ay-sama, we need you to hold still. Yuki and I are going to try to help you, but we need to get at your wound."_

 _He nodded weakly. Every motion seemed to cause him agony. I could see his face blanch, and several timed it looked like he would almost pass out, but he had himself under control now. We got the damaged vest of of him and gently pulled the shirt up and over his head._

 _The wound on his back was an angry red bullseye, about the size of one of the old master's dinner plates. The hole the fang had made was turning grey around the edges. Red streaks were throbbing under his skin… and then there was the smell. The sickly sweet stench of an infection wafted across my nose and made me feel ill._

 _But the worst part was the huge spider web seal that crawled across his back. Ay-sama's wound was set dead center in that web. Right underneath that wound was a huge angry lump._

 _The lump twitched. It squirmed. It undulated up and down. It looked like there was a creature right under his skin, and it was making a burrow._

 _Yuki reached out and gave the swelling a tentative prod. There was a wriggle under the puncture in Ay's back, and a long, thin, jet black, appendage worked its way out from the hole._

 _I screamed again. This time Yuki joined me._

 _I don't know how Yuki decided on what he did next. Every time I asked him later, he would just shrug and say: "It just... seemed like the right thing to do." There was a series of loud pops and snaps as he shifted his fingers into paws and claws, dug them into the seal, and pulled._

* * *

 _The storyteller took a drink from her waterskin and smiled at her ever growing audience. "I am willing to bet that many of you cubs in our little village have never seen a seal before, let alone had the opportunity to play with one. Like all peoples who came from Uzushiogakure, we have sealing jutsu in our blood. Amongst the Tsukuineko clan, this manifests as an ability to sense seals, to pull them apart, to instinctively figure out how they work… But each of us will do this in his or her own way." She pointed to the green eyed twins. "Some of you may have to use your claws." She pointed to the red haired male cub. "Some of you may have to use your fingers." Her last wave was to a golden haired lioness child. "Some of you may be gifted enough to take apart a seal while sitting perfectly still, using nothing but the power of your mind… As I said before, Yuki was the best of us at this… and he was most comfortable using his claws. We all were, for that was the only way we had seen it done."_

* * *

 _He yanked, and the leg disappeared back into the hole. Ay inhaled, a great groaning hiss of agony. The lump under his skin started to move, quickly creeping towards where Yuki had pulled on the web seal. "Tohru!" he said firmly. I have no idea how he was so calm in this situation. "I'm going to need you to grab the seal on the other side."_

 _I sat on my hands. That seal was the last thing I wanted to touch. The smell… I don't know if I can describe it properly… and the feel… it was a dark miasma lurking in the air… The strange lump crawling under Ay's skin didn't help matters. "Tohru!" Yuki snapped, trying to get my attention again. "I need your help now!" The lump inched ever closer to his claws._

 _Gingerly I grabbed the edge of the seal and gave a half hearted tug. As soon as I came into contact, the knot under Ay's skin paused. Yuki used the opportunity to free his claws from the slowly unraveling seal. The growth gave an unnatural shudder and then started creeping back towards my hands. "Yuki?" I called out nervously._

" _It's okay Tohru," he said quietly, as if the wandering tumor could hear us. "As soon as it gets too close, you let go of your end of the seal and I'll start working on it again… We'll go back and forth like that."_

" _For how long?" I asked, shuddering as that… thing creeped closer to my fingers as I worked._

" _Until Mizako gets here," was Yuki's reply._

 _We must have gone back and forth at least five times, when Ay violently reacted again. He was clearly uncomfortable, but he bore the pain in a mostly stoic silence. The mass had just creeped over his spine in a particularly awkward manner, and this must have caused... considerable pain._

 _His fists were punching the dirt floor, and he was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. I did what I could to soothe him. I patted his head. I stroked his brow. "It will be okay Ay-sama, Mizako will be here soon… she will take care of you!"_

" _Tohru!" Yuki called out. It was my turn again._

 _As I started working on my end of the seal, Ay's hand reached out for Yuki. "I… need a favor," he murmured in a hoarse whisper."_

" _Yes Ay-sama?" Yuki said getting closer to hear better._

" _I… need you to... tell Mizako something… for me." There was a pause as he gritted his teeth and squirmed. The swelling oozed back over his spine again. When it cleared it and he could speak again, he took a deep breath. "Tell her... that she is the one person I…"_

" _Ay!?" shrieked Mizako, as she burst into the hut, her face a mask of worry. She turned to Yuki. "How long has he been like this?"_

 _Yuki shrugged. "I don't know."_

" _Well, why are you doing that?" she yelped at him a hysterical note in her voice._

 _Again Yuki shrugged. "It seems to help… Let go Tohru, It's getting too close to you. Let me pull at it from over here," he said as he latched his claws into the other side of the seal Mizako swallowed heavily as she stared at the creeping swelling. "That… thing... was hurting him…digging deeper. I poked it and it tried to come out of the cut to get me. I think it's something Majo-sama put in him… and she always uses seals… So I tried pulling on the seal and it started moving… It seems to live in the seal, maybe? I mean it's gross, but at least it's not going any deeper and it doesn't seem to be hurting as much now…" Yuki's words dissolved into sniffles and he started shaking as the nerves took over._

 _Mizako exhaled deeply and gave him a reassuring pat. "I'm sure it's fine," she said with a confidence that her face didn't share. She held on to Ay's hand. Yuki let go as the mass crept almost to the tips of his claws and I immediately started pulling on the opposite end of the seal again. Mizako watched the lump cross his back once more, skirting the edge of Ay's wound. "You said it almost... came out?" she asked with a frown._

 _I nodded. "It looked like it was trying to swipe at Yuki when he poked it."_

 _Mizako took a deep breath, steadied herself, and gave the mass a sharp jab with her finger. The lump gave a twisting little roll and began to shrink. Almost simultaneously, every muscle in Ay's back tightened and he let out a strangled, panting scream. "Shirt!" swore Mizako. "It's digging in! Quick, pull on the seal!" she shouted to me._

 _I grabbed the black webs of chakra and pulled upwards. It was a lot harder than just trying to unravel the seal. It didn't want to let go of Ay's flesh. Still, with me standing, I had enough force to work it upwards. The lump did seem to detach itself and slowly slide down to the opposite side of Ay's back. Without needing to be asked, Yuki stood as well, seizing the edge of the seal and lifting it up._

 _Slowly, it rose off his skin, popping free, a centimeter at a time. Ay must have been in terrible pain, moans were escaping from his clenched teeth, but he did not struggle. The tumor under his skin however, was writhing and jumping from place to place. At one point it seemed to seize hold of something under Ay's skin. The whole seal became impossible to shift, and the lump refused to budge. "Kyo!" called out Yuki's strained voice. "You too!" My other brother's claws came free with a wet popping noise, instead of grabbing for the edge of the seal though, he raked them right around the mass under Ay's skin._

 _Whether he scratched it or not I cannot say... but the lump reacted. Whatever was holding the web-seal in place loosened and Yuki and I hauled it up. Eventually most of it was free. The only part still attached was directly underneath the wound the demon spider's fang had left in Ay's back… And right underneath that pus-laden hole was where the lump was hanging on. "I don't think it's stuck… I think it's too big to come out," said Kyo giving it another prod with his claws. "This isn't going to work."_

 _I felt like crying. I didn't want to give up right now, not after all the pain we had put Ay-sama through. Mizako relaxed her hold on Ay's hands and reached into her equipment pouch. "Ay…" she began with a quaver in her voice._

" _I know Kitten," he said his voice a hoarse rasp. "I've been listening… Do it. Just make sure you kill it... Quickly… If it is like her other... 'pets' we don't want to give it a chance to escape."_

 _Mizako pulled out a fresh kunai and carefully placed the tip inside the wound. A hairy black foreleg squirmed out the hole next to the knife blade, but she ignored it. "Yuki, Tohru... when I cut... pull fast. Kyo… get out of the way. It's going to be very hot in a second." She took three deep breaths and then I think she tried to give us a reassuring smile. It ended up being a sickly grin. "Ready?"_

 _Yuki and I pulled, the blade moved, and all of a sudden the web-seal sprang free and hung taut in the air between the two of us. Crawling in the center of that web was a black, dripping spider about the size of my fist._

 _It stared at me with gleaming red eyes, hissed, and sprang right for my face. There was a whistling in the air as Mizako's kunai caught the squealing beast and sent it tumbling into the snow outside. There was a bright white flare of light as Mizako raced outside after the spider skewered on the point of her knife. The shadows inside the hut were thrown into bright contrast as the fire burned bright in her hands. We could hear the small spider's flesh hiss and pop and smell the foul smoke and hot iron… But Mizako didn't release her jutsu until her blade had melted into a glowing orange puddle._

 _Ay was bleeding again, much worse than before. The re-damaging of the fang wound, the burrowing as the small spider was digging around in his flesh. It had all added up. He looked so terribly pale. And no matter what Mizako tried to do, bandages, or pressure, or cauterizing with fire, or washing with boiled water... she could not seem to staunch the bleeding._

* * *

 _The storyteller shifted uncomfortably in her seat in front of the fire. "Fortunately, I knew of something that would work… I shifted to my four footed form and began to lick the wound closed."_

 _There was a low murmur from the surrounding adults at that bit of information. A few of the older cubs looked shocked as well. The burly, red haired, male cub let out a loud guffaw that stopped abruptly as the Crone fixed him with a warning glare. "I know now that... what we did was against the customs of our clan," the storyteller said quietly. "I know... now… that the closing of wounds is... reserved for those who are going through the mating ritual… that it raises a deep empathic bond between two people… But at the time… we were young. We hadn't been raised by the Pard." The storyteller paused and looked up at the starry sky. "For all my brothers and I knew at that time… we were the only members of our clan left in the world." She straightened and tried to meet the disapproving gaze of every adult around the campfire. "Ay-sama was very precious to us… Despite his occasional bad attitude, he was one of the few people we had met who was genuinely interested in caring for us… He and Mizako were… They were willing to fight for us… to protect us…"_

 _The storyteller paused here and stared for a long time into the flames. Her face hardened as she relived the history of her tale. "We may not have consciously realized it at the time, but we were learning to trust them… we were trying to bond with them… to love them, as a cub loves its parent." The flickering flames from the dying fire cast long shadows across her face. "And we were willing to do anything to protect them," she said in a low growl._


	10. Chapter 10

Ay leaned against the flimsy doorway of the hut and cursed every ache and pain in his body. He felt like he was eighty years old. No… he left like he was a hundred and eighty. It ached to stand, to walk, to breathe. He had the suspicion if it hadn't been for the… well, let's be honest here, somewhat creepy way that the three cubs had insisted upon religiously licking his wounds clean every day, he might not have pulled through at all. He definitely wouldn't have been moving around now.

Once again those three youngsters had proven themselves valuable. Transformation into cats, their ability to physically interact with seals, and potent healing properties in their saliva… no wonder Konoha was willing to throw so many resources into retrieving them.

The hollering and ruckus being raised by those same three children were what woke him from his slumber. But it was his self-discipline that had convinced him to rise. He was regretting listening to that now. It hadn't hurt half this much when he was lying down.

Ay closed his eyes and hung his head, willing away the throbbing soreness rippling through his neck and shoulders. Gods, he was feeling so weak… pathetic… deplorable… If his father saw him now… In this state… having to depend on a kunoichi from the Hidden Leaf and three children… children! To care for him…

The Third Raikage, Ay's father, was a legend in the shinobi world, known for his strength, tenacity, and almost superhuman endurance. He could laugh off almost every bodily insult with casual ease... it was expected of his son to do the same.

Of course, his brother Bee was also the Raikage's son, by adoption… and, of course, he was also expected to endure the same strength and discipline training as his older brother. Ay would never admit it out loud (not unless he wanted a smack about the head from his father) but sometimes… sometimes he envied his younger brother. Sometimes it seemed to him as if Bee had the easier time of it. All Bee had to deal with was the Eight tails.

Granted, that was an enormous burden in its own right, but it allowed him certain… leniencies…He was, to an extent, allowed to have his own life… Or perhaps more accurately, whenever Bee vanished off on one of his idiotic quests to further his career (as a rapper of all things!) he never seemed to feel the overwhelming guilt that Ay did when he incurred father's displeasure. Nobody expected him to fill the Raikage's shoes. Nobody had as high expectations of Bee as they did of one of the Raikage's own bloodline.

In a harsh kingdom, like the Land of Lightning… home to earthquakes, deadly storms, rockslides, and countless enemy attacks, not even the strong were guaranteed survival. In a land where, what those soft fools in the Land of Fire would refer to as a 'traditional family', could be destroyed without warning... it made sense to have a fluid attitude towards the family unit. There was none of the state sponsored orphanage nonsense like you found in Konoha. Amongst the Hidden Cloud Village's smaller population all orphaned children had a place to stay. It was accepted in Kumo that this lead to happier shinobi and happier children. After all, who focuses better on a mission: the shinobi worried about his children and their future or the shinobi confident that if anything happens to him or her, Uncle Hiro and Aunt Jun will be right there taking care of little Akira?

In Kumo, group housing was the norm. Every square centimeter of potentially fertile flat space in Kumogakure was put to its full use growing crops. What little area was left his people used to build those uniquely Hidden Cloud towering buildings that clung tenaciously to the mountain sides. It was the only way to house and feed everyone at the same time.

Several adult shinobi would all come together to live in one of those huge communal structures. Maybe they were squadmates or teammates, maybe they were just friends. Maybe they were a group of several couples, maybe they were even having some sort of free floating open group relationship… that didn't matter and honestly no one had the time to care. What mattered was that the children were cared for, the missions were run, that life in those group houses continued as normal... that the business of the village continued without pause. Having so many 'Aunties' and 'Uncles' around certainly helped matters.

The one time he and Mizako talked about this, she insisted the Leaf had something similar, that in Konoha the Clans took care of their own… in Kumo, Clan affiliation only mattered to those interested in genealogy. Those impossibly restrictive rules used by the Hyuga, or the Uchiha to keep their clan members in place would have never worked in Kumo. Everybody was too busy ensuring survival to care about old family feuds, or maintaining a legacy, or whether your child's dating habits would affect the clan's business or not…

Unless of course you were the Raikage's heir… Then, according to Ay's father, your entire life was the village's business.

He reached out with arms to each side, stretching his fingers as far as they would go, and inhaled deeply. It was all he could do to not lose that breath in a gasp of pain. Fighting against his own muscles every step of the way, he brought his palms together in the center of his chest and pressed them against each other as hard as he could. A basic, simple, isometric exercise.

It was almost too much for him. He almost dropped his arms, almost sat weakly down on the wood pile next to him, almost gave up… but he could picture his father's scowl of disapproval in his mind.

To distract himself from the pain, Ay watched the three cubs as they scampered and meowed through the snowy field in front of the hut. They were chasing after a lean rabbit, a crafty animal that was evading their poorly coordinated hunt far too easily. There was something about the three of them that made him think of Mizako that first time they met. They projected the same mix of being delicate and vulnerable and yet fiercely determined.

When he was still just a wet behind the ears brat, a handful of years older than those three lion cubs scrambling about in the snow, his mother had been killed in the now infamous Suna poisoning attacks on his village. It had been a devastatingly effective assault pulled off by a mere two or three enemy shinobi. In the dead of night they had dumped their toxins in two of the village's wells and sprinkled more in a majority of the grain silos. By noon, a full third of the population of Kumo was either dead or dying.

He had spent that night blubbering away over the cooling body that had once been his mother. Of course he had known about loss, every child growing up in a shinobi village learns about that, but this was the first time it had really struck home for him.

The Raikage's wife had been the quiet power behind the throne. Ay's father would bluster and bellow and threaten, but it was Ay's mother who often brought reason and logic and justice to the ruling governance. Ambassadors often assumed that because the lithe, almost delicate beauty wasn't threatening to cut their heads off at every meeting, and treated them with some modicum of respect, that she would be a pushover to negotiate with.

They were wrong. 'An iron fist in the finest velvet glove' was a phrase the legendary Leaf shinobi, Jiraiya had once used to describe her while on a diplomatic mission from Konoha. What struck Ay the most was the kindness and tenderness she somehow managed to keep alive in this harsh land. His mother was the one who filled the house with laughter. His mother was the one who kissed his hurts. His mother was the one who made the effort to show him that life might be hard, but it could still be warm and fun.

He remembered feeling strange as he returned home from a particularly hard run in the practice fields. It had been an unseasonably warm day, he hadn't drunk enough water, and he had barely touched his lunch. He ate a few bites, but stopped when he felt queasy. He stumbled home, first feeling lightheaded followed by a burning clench in his stomach. He threw up on the steps to his house and hoped his father wouldn't be angry. The last thing he remembered before the whole world went gray and he collapsed on the floor was calling out for his mother.

He was one of the few who had been poisoned and lived… Saved by a mild case of heatstroke. The medical-nins who treated him told him he had been very lucky...

He didn't feel lucky.

His mother was dead, his world was forever changed, and despite all the harsh training his father had made him undergo, Ay just couldn't get his head to accept that she was really gone. So he spent the night crying at the head of his mother's burial shroud, as the Raikage stood like a granite pillar in the center of the room, meeting with all the Kumo officials and shinobi who had come to make panicked reports, listing casualties, looking for orders and leadership.

For the whole of that evening, Ay's father tacitly lamented the loss of brave men and women under his command and made muted promises of vengeance with mourning parents. With a handful of stern faced orders he made sure that orphans were cared for, the poisoned food stores were burned, the tainted wells were sealed off, and the guard around the village was doubled.

And not once did he spare a moment to look at his dead wife and his crying son. As Ay wept, he had decided that he would never forgive the man.

As the sky slowly brightened and the mad scramble of advisors and commanders and supplicants asking for assistance dried up, the Raikage had placed one huge hand on Ay's shoulder. "Come my son," he had said in the raspy raw voice of of a man who had been up all night. "We must go and greet the village."

"No!" insisted Ay, shaking his head violently.

The hand tightened. "There will be time again for tears later," the Raikage said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "Right now we have a duty."

Young Ay wiped at his nose with his sleeve. "I don't care!" he said, gripping the side of the viewing platform tightly. "I am going to stay right here with Mama!"

"Kumogakure needs us," his father insisted again, giving his shoulder a shake. "Let's go."

"Fuck Kumogakure!" Ay choked out between sobs.

There was a moment of stunned silence and then the old man grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him up to the tallest peak overlooking the village. There, the Third Raikage had forced him to sit in the dust and to watch as the sun rose over Kumogakure. One by one the doors to the houses opened and various villagers began to walk about their business. "Do you see your fellow villagers down there? All of them have lost someone they care about, be it family, friends or lover... Yet not a single one of them is sniveling in their beds this morning… Do you know why?" the Raikage had growled at him.

Ay was irrational with grief over his mother and full of loathing for his father. "Because they're all a bunch of heartless assholes… just like you!" he spat.

His father's blow knocked the young Ay sprawling. The boy crumbled in the dust and started bawling again in great gasping howls. He heard his Raikage's grunt of disgust and his great clomping footsteps as he walked away. He came back a few minutes later with someone in tow. Ay looked up. His father was holding the hand of a young girl about his age with wavy red hair and bronzed skin. Her golden eyes were red as if she had been crying all night. "Marui," said his father in a bass rumble, "this is my son. Son, meet Marui." He turned back to the girl, "I apologize for the lack of manners in my son, he just lost his mother in the tragedy." The Raikage's face was expressionless but Ay could feel his father's disapproval being focused on him. "Marui-chan would you be so good as to answer a question of my son's? He wanted to know if, like him, you happened to lose anyone close to you in this cowardly attack against our village?"

The girl glanced at Ay's prone form for a second and then back to the Raikage. "My mother, my father, my uncle and my older brother, Raikage-sama," she answered in a flat emotionless voice.

"Tell me child… Did you cry?" Her face flushed red, but she nodded her head once. "No shame in that," said the Raikage. "We've all felt loss. Now tell my son this… why are you not crying now?"

"Because.. my family…needs me," she said a little hesitantly. When the Raikage nodded his approval she went on. "My little brother needs me, my aunt and cousins need me, my…"

"Thank you Marui, your strength of character does you credit… If either you or your brother ever need assistance, ask at the Raikage's office and it shall be granted to you." The girl bowed and quickly walked away.

When she was out of earshot, his father turned back to him. "Stand up," he rumbled in a low growl. "Stand up you sniveling little whelp… right now, that girl has ten times the courage that you do. The least you can do is stand up and look at me like a proper Kumo shinobi."

His head still hurt like the blazes from where his father cuffed him, but Ay ignored it and forced himself to get up and stand at attention. The Raikage's face was still a thundercloud of dark emotion, but he did give young Ay a begrudging nod. "Good... you look like a man now, not some whimpering dog. Wipe your eyes, look down at Kumogakure and tell me what you see."

"I… I see our village," Ay said.

The Raikage sighed again. "You see our village continuing on as it always has," corrected Ay's father, a note of pride creeping into his voice. "You see a devastated population of men, women and children. Saddened by loss, yet climbing back up to their feet again, ready to face whatever this unkind world may throw at them." He looked askance at his son. "Do you have the slightest understanding what helps them get out of their nests of sorrow and face the future?" Ay mutely shook his head. The Raikage gave a short growl and pulled at his beard. "If I asked any of those shinobi to go on a mission for the good of the village that would ultimately end in their deaths… they would not hesitate to accept… Do you understand why?"

"Because you are the leader of this village and they have to obey you," said Ay, his voice filled with resentment.

"Wrong!" bellowed the Raikage, his patience gone. "They will do it because they know in their hearts… They know," he shouted, "that I would not ask any of them to perform any mission that I was not willing to do myself… And that my son… that is leadership! That is what sets us above those scum in Mizugakure, those treacherous cowards in Iwagakure, those lily livered fools in Konoha, and those poisoning bastards in Suna." He swept out an arm to encompass the whole village. "Our people will fight on and our people sacrifice themselves for our village because they know that I am willing to do the same! They look up to me and they take their strength from my strength." He seized Ay by the front of his shirt and shook him. "This morning you shed the last selfish tears of your life. You can cry and weep for your comrades but you will never…. ever... again let it stop you from doing YOUR DUTY!" He dropped Ay to the ground with a thump. "Your mother... she had high hopes for you," said his father with just the smallest hint of a quaver in his voice. "She used to ask me at night if I thought you had it in you to succeed me… to lead our great village onward after I am gone..." He glared down at his son, a frown on his face. "If you are man enough to carry out the last wishes of my wife… If you want to become the Raikage in the future, you will start acting like one now... People respect strength… people respect discipline… People want a man who has the courage to share the same risks that they do." The Raikage snorted deep in his chest like a bull. "A leader who is lacking in those, is no leader at all… You have to lead by example... you have to be someone your fellow shinobi will aspire to be."

His father turned away and stared off at the horizon. "Whatever else happens, Kumo must always survive!" The old man had roared at the sky his fists clenched but young Ay had no idea who he was talking to. "Whatever happens in this world... Your mother's death, my death, your death, being beaten in battle, losing a war, finding yourself broken and bloody on a battlefield… whatever happens… Kumo… Must… Survive!" The Raikage sighed again and just for a second his father's mighty shoulders drooped. He looked back over his shoulder at Ay, tears on his wet cheeks glistening like diamonds in the morning sun. "You call me heartless... You selfish, brainless boy… Do you not think that I too mourn your mother? Do you not think that I also ache? Do you not think that I want to scream and wail and pull at my beard and beat my fists against the walls till they are bloody? Do you not think that I would kill the Gods themselves if that could bring her back to me?!" His father took a deep shuddering breath and roughly rubbed a huge hand over his face. The tears were gone. Only his reddened eyes gave truth to his crying. "Her death cuts me deeper than any wound I have sustained… but by standing strong and continuing on I am giving her a better memorial than a whole ocean of tears." The Raikage loomed over his son, once again, impassive and invincible, and lowered a hand to help him up. "That is the kind of tribute she deserves as a proud Kumo Kunoichi."

His father pulled him forward, marching off into the sunrise. When Ay stumbled, his father caught him with one arm and steadied him. "Remember this boy," said his father, brushing the dust off Ay's shirt to make him more presentable, "for it's one of the few truths of the world: Tears never made tomorrow a better place. Sobbing never rebuilt a home. Crying never filled anyone's stomach. It's only through our strength that we manage to carry on."

If his father could see him now… Ay had no doubts that he would be in for another boxing of his ears.

He could almost hear his father's deep bass growling at him from the back of his mind. " _You stumble about like a weakling! Look at you! Pathetic! Dependant on the scrawniest kunoichi from Konoha to fill your rumbling belly! You needed to lean on that girl this morning to make it to the nearest tree to take a piss! This is my son? Where is the mighty Ay? Who is this weak, lazy, sniveling, little shit to whom I was foolish enough to entrust the future of the greatest shinobi village in the world_?!"

Ay hooked an arm across the other and pulled it tight across his chest. He cursed again under his breath as nerves and muscles screamed in agony. Despite the fact that his father's imaginary berations always got louder when Ay was alone, he was glad Mizako had left to forage. The looks she gave him when he swore were caustic enough to clean glass. He needed this time, alone, to slowly get his body back into some sort of shape.

Heh, Mizako… He grinned at the thought of her as he bent over and creakily tried to press both palms down on the dirt floor of the hut. That little midget had been getting herself into trouble of one sort or another since the moment he first laid eyes on her. She hadn't changed much in the two and a half years he'd known her. She still had that wide-eyed innocence that was in her face at their first meeting, hiding in a cave from an ambush of Hidden Mist shinobi. That honest purity, to this day, alternatingly infuriated and fascinated him. She had such a naive, trusting view of the world... she did the things that she felt were 'right' without once stopping to ponder what the greater consequences might be.

Gods, he wanted to protect that innocence in her. He wanted to hold her in his arms, shield her with his body from all the cruel realities of this world, keep her giggling and happy and safe.

Ay straightened, inhaled, and stepped forward into a lunge, reaching both arms to the sky. Slowly he stretched them out to the side and pivoted, lining his upper body up with his lower. This relationship of theirs… it was supposed to be a one time thing. A single moment giving into the possibility of fantasy, before heading back into reality.

Except after that first tryst, he found himself daydreaming about her, reliving that moment over and over in his mind.

He ignored the complaints he was getting from his legs and sank a little lower in his stance, swinging the front arm up and dropping the one behind until he was looking up at the roof. His father was not amused by how distracted his eldest son was in those days. Bee had found the whole thing hilarious. He even wrote a rap about the situation: "The Iron Claw vs the Daydreaming Lover" it was called.

To his great relief, Ay received a second secret note from Mizako asking if he could see her again. He readily agreed, hoping not to seem too eager… after all, there was no way this could turn into anything serious… He just needed to work this girl out of his system.

He knew he was in trouble when, upon not hearing from her for the next two weeks, he found himself hastily scribbling out a note for her… Asking when she next had some free time.

He put both hands on the floor, kicked out both legs behind him into a pushup position and slowly, creakily, began lowering himself to the floor. By now knew why he enjoyed his time with her so much. She was the one small slice of his life that was outside his father's influence and control. His time with her was the one solitary moment he had where he wasn't putting Kumogakure first... where he wasn't the Raikage's heir.

She was his one flaw, his one weakness. The only time he had where he didn't have to be perfect. Gods he loved that feeling.

He had no doubts it wouldn't last… Ay knew that somehow, someday it would all come crashing down and he would have to move on… keeping nothing but his memories. But until then he would enjoy it. He grinned again at his thoughts. How very Kumo of him… no doubt Mizako would be offended.

He looked up as the cubs collapsed into a tangled yowling mess of legs and tails. The rabbit they were stalking had stood, stock still in front of them as they charged. Then at the last second, it had bolted towards them. The cubs couldn't stop in time and had crashed in a heap. A few meters away, the rabbit stopped its run, and began cleaning its ears. Ay had the suspicion it was taunting them.

"Dammit!" shrieked a shifting Kyo, also apparently taking advantage of Mizako's absence to get in some much needed swearing. "Tohru, it ran right past you! What the hell's the matter with you? That was our lunch! Now we're going to starve!"

Actually, if Ay was keeping track correctly, it would be the boy's fourth meal of the day. Frankly, given the state the three cubs were in when he first saw them, he shouldn't have been so astonished that they would be so hungry, but… the sheer amount of food that Kyo could put away was beginning to worry him… There was only so much to eat in the middle of a forest after all.

And then there was that one time that he had slept through Mizako's return from the hunt and she had foolishly, once again, attempted to cook a brace of game hens she had caught by herself. The stench of burning flesh had woken him, but it had been too late to salvage anything from the cook fire. He, Mizako, Tohru and Yuki had all decided to pass on the meal, but not Kyo… To Ay's horror/admiration Kyo crunched his way through the two carcasses, burped hugely, and promptly fell asleep.

"Don't yell at Tohru!" interjected Yuki, also shifting back up to two feet. "It's not her fault! That rabbit is just too fast."

Kyo snorted. "Yeah right, she's too slow is more like it."

Yuki took a step forward and glared down at the shorter boy. "I didn't see you able to catch it a few minutes earlier."

Kyo scowled. "That's because you got in my way!" he growled.

Yuki snorted. "It's because you're turning into a fat ass."

Kyo barred his teeth. "You take that back!" he snarled.

Yuki grinned at him, gave a half turn, and stuck out his bottom. "Ooh! Look at me! I'm Kyo! My butt is so big!"

"Fuck you!" screamed Kyo as he charged and tried to tackle his brother. Yuki was ready and waiting for him. While Kyo had the advantage in weight, Yuki had the advantage in height and reach, so it looked like their little impromptu wrestling match was fairly even.

At first, Ay found it amusing, the way they flailed about at each other in such a laughable clumsy way. Neither of the boys clearly had any sort of martial arts training. He supposed that if Mizako were around she would have stopped the fight but really… there was nothing he could do. I mean, he supposed that if their little fight lasted long enough, say, five minutes he might be able to hobble his way over there… but instead he tiredly opted to watch them from the doorway as they grunted and shoved.

It was Tohru's cry that snapped him awake and convinced him to take some action. She shifted up onto two legs and started yelling at the boys. "Stop it stop it STOP IT!" she shrieked. "We are a family! And you do not fight with your family!" she was jumping up and down in the snow, two medium length braids bouncing on her back. Ay could see the sunlight glinting off the tears on her cheeks.

When did she start wearing her hair like that? The braids shocked him almost as much as her words… words which reached down into his brain and gripped his imagination. She called them a family… the moment she said it, it was as if Ay could picture it in his head. He and Mizako, living together… they had a house, which looked surprisingly like the hut they were sleeping in now, only roomier… he glanced up at the squabbling cubs… children… that needed his care...

He shook his head quickly. Just another dream that would never happen. But that didn't mean he shouldn't do anything about the chaos here and now...

Ay bent down, biting his lip against the pulling and twanging in his back, and scooped up a huge double handful of snow. He packed it into a ball the size of a melon and let fly.

His shoulder hurt like hell but his aim was true. The snowball burst right on the back of Yuki's head, showering both boys with snow. The fight instantly stopped and everyone turned to stare at him. "Your sister is right," he declared, his voice still a little hoarse, but carrying. "You are a family. Don't waste your time fighting each other. You should be saving your energy to catch that rabbit." He found himself smirking as he echoed one of the sayings of his father: "Fighting amongst yourselves never filled anyone's belly." Striding forward, he reached out and used his thumb to wipe a tear from Tohru's chin. "Neither have tears young lady."

"Neither is chasing the damn thing!" snapped Kyo gesturing wildly at the rabbit who was still sitting on its wide feet, wiggling its nose at them. "She's too slow, and he's," Kyo shifted his glare to Yuki, "...he's too stupid to know how to hunt anything!"

Yuki narrowed his eyes. "I am not too stupid to know…"

"Actually," Ay said, slowly hobbling to the center of their group. "None of you have the foggiest idea what you are doing."

All three children turned to look at him in surprise. Kyo's face quickly turned into an arrogant sneer. "Oh yeah? Let's see you turn into a big cat and catch that rabbit then!"

Later, Ay decided he must have be feeling a little better. The speed at which he suddenly loomed over the defiant boy wasn't anything close to impressive, but Kyo's eyes widened slightly just the same. "I don't need to change into a cat to catch a mere rabbit... boy," he said, arrogance dripping off of every syllable. "I don't need a special jutsu. I don't even need a weapon. I need just three things." He held up one meaty hand and counted off with his fingers one by one. The three C's his father had called it. "I need my cranium… my courage… and my comrades."

"Hey! You said no weapons!" said Kyo accusingly.

"A cranium isn't a weapon, dumbass," said Yuki with a embarrassed palm on his face. "It's another word for his head… his brain."

"I knew that!" Kyo insisted angrily.

"Um… Ay-sama?" asked Tohru, shyly. "You… You don't have your comrades with you."

Ay kept his face impassive, but inside he was pleased the girl had spoken up to correct him on that point. She needed more assertiveness. "Hmmm," he said in a deep thoughtful rumble. "You seem to be quite correct." He rubbed his chin pretending to ponder the situation. Far back in the dark recesses of his mind, his father's voice grumbled at him, asking him what the hell he thought he was doing wasting his time with this bunch of foreign brats.

Ay ignored his Father's patriotic complaints. He gingerly brought himself down to one knee to be more at the children's level. "I guess if we want to catch our lunch, we'll have to make our own team. Let's see, shinobi squads are usually teams of three." Yuki and Kyo slightly stepped forward trying to surreptitiously push each other out of the way. Tohru was left at the back, her chin dropping towards her chest. "All of you, come with me," Ay commanded. "For this mission, a fourth member of the squad will be an absolute necessity." The girl cub's smile was wide and proud.

* * *

The rabbit watched as the tall human picked up a stick and started drawing lines in the snow. This particular human was pathetically slow, so it didn't even bother to hop away more than a few jumps each time he approached. The lines themselves didn't seem to be much of a threat, so the rabbit just went on ignoring them, classifying it as one of those crazy things that humans sometimes do.

Of more interest to the rabbit were the three cat-children. When he had first caught scent of the three of them crashing through the snowy forest, he had been horrified… the smell of the giant predators had triggered some deep seated instinctual flight response in his brain. However, they had spent most of the afternoon simply running aimlessly after him. Never before had he been able to evade those hunting him so easily. This was no battle for survival. He was actually starting to enjoy himself.

The three cat-children turned into those big felines again and fanned out. This was different. Before they had always come at him in a tight headlong rush. Well no matter, he could always just…

The cat on the far left started first. She ran in a wide swooping arc that wouldn't even come near him. A second later the one on the far right started his run. He loped through the icy crust, again on a path that would take him nowhere near the rabbit.

The remaining cat-child, the one in the middle, was staring at him with narrowed eyes and a twitching tail. He waited until he saw its haunches bunch like coiled springs before he turned tail and sprinted away.

A rabbit's evasive ability is not dependent on speed, although that certainly plays a large part. What really enables a rabbit to avoid becoming a predator's dinner is its ability to corner, to turn directions suddenly and lose a pursuer. This particular rabbit was mature and wily and had long ago mastered the art of stopping suddenly and veering off in a new direction.

He took a step to the left and quickly staggered back. The leftmost feline was right there next to him, pacing him. He turned his head to the right. The other cat-child was on that side effectively boxing him in.

The rabbit ran faster, but he still wasn't nervous. The path they were keeping him to would take them right past an ancient gnarled oak tree. He could easily lose them there.

He put on a burst of speed and accelerated past the shadow of the tree. He had just enough time to look up as a second shadow came crashing down on him.

* * *

Ay hauled the still twitching rabbit up triumphantly, immensely pleased with himself that he had actually caught the damned thing. Perhaps he wasn't as useless as he thought. His mental image of the third Raikage merely gave an unimpressed shrug. " _Congratulations, you caught a stupid rabbit,_ " his father said sarcastically inside his head. " _That means that right now... you're about as skilled as a novice genin. Pardon me if I'm not dancing with glee._ "

Tohru was jumping up and down excitedly chanting, "We caught it! We caught it! We caught it!" Yuki was trying his best to calm her down, but Ay could tell from his grin that the boy was also pleased with their achievement. The feeling was infectious. Ay was still feeling stiff and sore, but it was suffused with the warm glow of pride.

Kyo was still in his lion form, a hungry glint in his eye, slowly creeping towards the limp rabbit Ay held in his fist.

It was Kyo's awkward, impromptu hunt, that gave Ay the idea. He held the rabbit high over his head. "Alright team," he said with a thin smile. "Now we enter phase two of this exercise. Do you want to eat lunch?" He gave the cooling rabbit a little jiggle. "Try and take it from me."


	11. Chapter 11

" _Each of us had a different reaction. Kyo looked enraged. Yuki gave the knight a thoughtful look. The moment I heard those words come out of his mouth, I thought: "Oh no… We did something to displease Ay-sama… he is punishing us!" and burst into tears."_

 _The storyteller lifted her chin and giggled. "Yuki told me later, that I should have seen the look on Ay's face when I started crying. He said: "I now know what Ay-sama looks like when he is terrified." Yuki also told me that that brief look of horror was also what convinced him of Ay's true intentions."_

* * *

" _Tohru," Yuki said putting an arm around me. "Stop crying and let Ay-sama explain. He said this was 'phase two' of the exercise…"_

 _Ay shot Yuki a quick look of relief and coughed slightly. "You are quite correct Yuki." He folded his arms and fixed the three of us with a serious stare. "As of right now, you three are my comrades. There is just one small problem. While I know my own strengths in battle, I have no idea where your own talents may lie… as team leader I need to know this... small bit of vital information."_

 _Kyo looked up at Ay with a squint. "Who says you get to be team leader? Ow!" he yelped as Yuki smacked him across the back of the head._

 _Ay ignored the interruption. "So what we are going to do is have a small contest, with this rabbit as the goal… Just try to take it from me. I want to see what you can do."_

 _Yuki and I shared a glance. I was still completely unclear of what he wanted us to do. I tried to get Kyo's attention to see if he understood, but he had eyes for nothing but the rabbit. Finally, I took a few steps forward and reached up to grab at the unfortunate bunny._

 _Ay lifted it higher, out of my reach. "Not a bad start Tohru. When you are faced with a problem, it's always good to try out the simplest solutions first… sometimes they will work, but not this time."_

 _There was a soft pop-pop-pop of joints behind me as my brother Yuki shifted. He padded through the snow on all fours, readied himself and made a leap for the rabbit. As he was coming up in his jump, Ay yanked his arm to one side. Despite outstretched claws, Yuki missed it completely and crashed into a snowbank. "You decided to take advantage of the strength and agility of your other form, good thinking Yuki." Ay turned when he heard Kyo's snigger. "You laugh Kyo… But both your brother and sister have been bold enough to make a move… I wonder if you have the courage to follow them?"_

 _Kyo gave Ay a fearsome glower, lowered his head, and charged the larger man. He skidded to a stop abruptly as a monstrous snowball exploded in his chest. Kyo looked down at his dripping body in shock and then back up at Ay. The knight gave him a slow mocking chuckle._

 _Quick as a wink, Kyo shifted into a lion cub, and with a high-pitched snarl, attacked Ay again. This time he fell back on his haunches, licking his whiskers as the second snowball struck him in the face. Ay smiled down at the three of us. "Your boldness does you credit Kyo. But what if your opponent is using a ranged attack to keep you at bay… what would you do then?"_

 _I hesitantly reached down and scooped up my own handful of snow, trying to form it into a ball as I saw Ay do. It was colder than I expected, and I hurriedly tried to throw it at Ay, which is probably why my aim was off and the snowball exploded harmlessly against a tree._

 _Ay glanced at the tree and then looked back at me. "When your opponent is holding your goal, ranged attacks will only serve to drive him further and further away. That can be useful in some situations, but not this one." Ay stood his ground, holding the rabbit high overhead and looked at us one by one. "Of the three of you, only Kyo has come at me seriously. Yuki and Tohru, you are going to have to attack me more enthusiastically if you want stewed rabbit for your next meal."_

 _My brothers and I exchanged a glance as he said this. We had all noted how stiffly he moved, how he winced when he thought Mizako wasn't looking. "Ay-sama," I said slowly. "We… don't want to hurt you."_

 _Ay's face went blank and the three of us took a step back. We could smell his temper flare in that one instant. However, instead of yelling he gave me a grudging nod. "Thoughtful as always Tohru," he said through gritted teeth. "However, if I can't avoid the attacks of three children... I deserve any wounds I receive. I insist that you come at me full force."_

 _Again we looked at each other. "I'll go first!" Kyo insisted._

" _No," said Ay with an upraised hand. "You all come at me at the same time."_

" _But… that's not fair!" I insisted. "You're too slow from your injuries!"_

 _Ay's face got red and he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then he closed it quickly. He beckoned to my brothers and me with one hand. "I may be slower than usual, but you would be foolish to underestimate me," he said as we gathered round. "What we are doing here is just a game, but someday, the lessons you learn here may also be useful to you in real life. In real life my girl, when facing a superior foe, you don't want to be fair... you want to win." Ay took a series of steps back as we pondered his words. He stopped when there was about five meters between us. "Now," he said with a smile, "come at me."_

 _Kyo charged first, shifting from two legs to four as he ran. Yuki followed him but stayed upright on two feet as he sprinted along the snow. I hung back, unsure of what to do._

 _Kyo made a full frontal assault, pouncing at Ay, leaping with claws outstretched. Ay just turned to one side and let Kyo sail on by... to land sputtering face first in a snowdrift. Yuki tried to dodge around the large man and make a tackle at his legs, but he found himself stumbling backwards as Ay placed his hand in the center of Yuki's chest and pushed._

 _Ay turned and looked expectantly at me. I threw another snowball at him. He caught it and lobbed it back at me. I squealed and ducked behind a tree._

 _When I peeked out again Ay was hopping around on one foot. Kyo had wrapped himself around his other leg and was gnawing on his boot. Yuki was swinging from Ay's outstretched arm trying to climb his way up to the rabbit. All three of them were making considerable noise. "Come Tohru!" Ay yelled. 'Don't forget what I showed you during our little Rabbit hunt! You have to work together as a team!" They seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I did not want to get tangled up in wrestling._

 _A little plop of melting snow fell from an overhead tree branch and landed on my head. A shiver followed a little trickle of icy melt water as it crawled under my collar and trickled down my shift. I looked up. The branches above me were sagging with heavy wet snow. I took another glance at Kyo and Ay and Yuki as they staggered about the clearing in eccentric circles. Then I shifted to my four footed body and started to climb._

 _We had few opportunities to climb at our previous houses. I think our previous masters were always worried that we would run away, or pounce on the guests or something. Still... we of the Pard have climbing in our blood and it was exhilarating for me to be up so high. I went up about three meters and slowly creeped out along one of the thinner branches, taking care to stay hidden in the foliage._

 _Then I just had to wait. It didn't take long for Ay to wander underneath my tree. When he did so, I jumped on the branch._

 _I saw Ay and Yuki look up at the the soft miniature avalanche of falling snow. Kyo was too interested in chewing on Ay's foot, and thus he didn't notice what was happening until he was buried._

 _Ay looked up at my face peeping out from the foliage and laughed. "An excellent trap my girl!" He lowered Yuki down to the snow and started to dig out Kyo. "I have to admit, I was expecting Kyo to be fierce and forward, I was expected Yuki to keep his focus on the objective and take advantage of Kyo's attacks, but you surprised me with your cleverness." He grinned up at me as he pulled a soggy Kyo out of the snow. "I'll remember not to underestimate you in the future. Now come down from there and let's have lunch!"_

 _There was one small issue with that. I backed up the branch to the trunk of the tree and suddenly found that I was unable to climb down. The three of them were looking up at me expectantly… and I couldn't do it. The balance was all wrong. I had no idea where to put my claws. I looked down at them and mewed piteously._

" _She says she's stuck," said Yuki looking up at Ay._

 _There was a sigh from Ay. "Here," he said handing Yuki the rabbit, "don't let your brother eat this." He walked his way underneath the tree and held out his arms. "Here Tohru, jump."_

 _It was far too frightening. All I could do was sit on that tree branch and yowl. "Tohru!" came Ay's voice, sharper this time. "Jump. Trust me! I'll catch you!"_

* * *

 _The storyteller picked up one end of her braid and flicked it around to her back. "It was a very hard thing to do, taking that first step… but it was Ay asking… I slowly unhooked my claws and fell."_

 _There was a long pause around the embers of the fire. "Did he catch you?" asked the green-eyed girl cub with her hand raised. There was a quiet snore from her twin sister, curled up in their mother's lap._

" _Of course he caught me," said the storyteller with a laugh. "I was just remembering how hard it was to let go… to fully trust someone after… all that had happened to us."_

* * *

 _Ay spent quite a bit of time praising us while we ate: "Kyo, you have such bravery in one so young. To keep charging headfirst into the fight like that, time and time again. Just remember that not every attack should be so obvious. Watch your brother here," he waved a hand at Yuki. "Pay close attention to how he thinks things out, how he plans ahead and comes up with a strategy." He nodded to Yuki. "You coordinated yourself admirably with Kyo's attack on my foot. You've got the makings of a fine tactician. And you Tohru," he said turning to me with a proud smile. "I am still amazed by that ambush you pulled off. You three are going to be admirable additions to the Kumogakure shinobi corps."_

 _I paused in my eating when I heard that. "Ay-sama… Mizako said that we're going to go live with her in Konoha," I said in a confused voice. "Did she… change her mind?"_

 _Ay gave me a somewhat embarrassed look. "Oh… well… actually... Mizako and I haven't talked about it… I just... assumed that since Kumo has superior resources for caring for orphans that I assumed you three would be coming with me." He gave me an unsure smile. "I mean, wouldn't you rather live in a house with a family surrounded by Uncles and Aunts and other children than live by yourselves in some cramped, dark, crowded orphanage?"_

 _I took another mouthful of rabbit and chewed thoughtfully. "Oh yes. That does sound nicer," I said through a full mouth. "But can Mizako still be our mother?"_

 _Ay's face flushed bright red. "E-Excuse me?" he asked me with a hint of a stammer._

" _It does make more sense that way Ay-sama," said Yuki in that matter of fact way he had. "If we go live in Kumo, I think it's fairly clear that you should be our father figure, but we would still need someone to be our mother. I can't speak for Kyo, but I'm certain that Tohru and I find Mizako acceptable…"_

" _Acceptable?!" I cried out. "She's amazing!"_

" _Eh... She's okay," mumbled Kyo, spraying bits of half chewed rabbit as he spoke. I scowled at him._

" _Anyway," continued Yuki, picking bits of grizzle off his shirt. "It's obvious that you have feelings for her as well… If we were to go with you to a new home in the Hidden Cloud village, could Mizako come with us?"_

 _Ay opened and closed his mouth a few times. It was very funny to see him flustered like that. "I… I don't see why not… but you'd have to ask Mizako," he mumbled."_

 _I know for sure I wasn't listening. I was too busy grinning. I knew that Kyo and Yuki liked the general idea of this plan too. When we all finished our meal, each one of us shifted into being lion cubs and curled up on Ay in a great purring pile. Yuki and I were puddled together in his lap and Kyo, for some reason, decided to dangle himself across Ay's broad shoulders. As for Ay, he would sit there and pat us, scratch us under the chin…the whole time telling us stories about what a perfect place Kumogakure was. How we were soon going to be living in the best place in the world._

 _It was a wonderful feeling. The whole hut was filled with warmth and love. Yuki and Kyo were fast asleep and I was just drifting off when I heard the softest of footsteps. "Oh, Ay!" My ear flicked once at the sound of Mizako's voice. "You look absolutely adorable!" she said with a giggle._

" _This isn't what it looks like… at all," he said gruffly. But he kept on scratching me under my chin._


	12. Chapter 12

If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Mizako would never have believed how fast Ay was healing. From a horrific, infected hole the size of her fist in the middle of his back, his wound had receded to a scabbed over five centimeter circle surrounded by shiny, bright pink, cicatrised flesh. She had heard from Kira, and in fact, practically every member of the Inuzuka clan, that dog saliva was a natural antibacterial agent and she supposed that lion cub spit could have some similar properties. She could think of no other explanation for the near miraculous progress she was seeing every day… It definitely offset the… awkwardness she felt from the way the cubs insisted on licking the wound daily in their lion form.

She could also tell he was physically feeling better by all the attention he was paying the cubs. Tohru and Yuki would hang on his every word, and even Kyo would listen to him without any back talk or arguing... some of the time. She would come back from foraging and find the four of them lying exhausted in the hut, the children laughing and chatting. Occasionally she would even catch Ay beaming proudly. They always stopped abruptly the moment she entered the hut, grinning at her with secretive smiles. "What are you three laughing at?" she would ask suspiciously.

One of the cubs, most often Tohru, would cover her face in an embarrassed way and blurt out. "It's a surprise!" and Mizako would force herself to jokingly chide them for a few minutes about keeping secrets.

Her ignorance was just an act. She could tell what they were doing. They were training. And not just simple exercises either. They were running small unit tactics... ambushes, herding a target, attack and evade… and they were using Kumo formations. All she needed to do was look at the mad scramble of footprints in the snow outside the hut. She could tell what they were doing and it made her very nervous. Nervous and… slightly jealous. As he recovered, they were spending more and more time with Ay, which... was fine… The cubs seemed to enjoy it. Tohru basked in his praise. Yuki liked the intellectual challenges he was constantly throwing at them, even Kyo was soaking up his tales of the glories of battle. What worried Mizako was the fact that they were listening to him just as attentively when he told them those ridiculous stories about how good it was living in Kumo. Those three were hanging on his every word.

She thought she knew Ay, she cared for him deeply, really deeply… sometimes in the heat of the moment she might even admit to herself that she loved him. She knew that in return, he cared for her too… sometimes, again in the heat of the moment, she would… get this inkling, that her feelings of love for him were returned.

But that was just a feeling. How much did she really matter to him? That was the question… They had been having these little… meetings for so long now, and still… he had yet to come out and say directly that he loved her…

Maybe Kakashi was right. Maybe Ay was only hanging around her for the information and any other advantages he could pick up for his village. If he decided that Tohru, Kyo and Yuki would be better off in Kumo, could she convince him otherwise? Could she stop him? Would the three kittens even want her to?

They were also running out of time. Her and Ay's little romantic rendezvous was only supposed to last a week. The Kage summit in the Land of Rain was only projected to last a little more than a week or so… two weeks at the most. It had been about a week and a half since her brother had left Konoha. The summit could be over already! Mizako knew that Minato wouldn't panic right away if he happened to return and she wasn't there, but as time dragged on, he would start to worry… and experience had taught her that a Hokage full of brotherly anxiety could be a most difficult thing.

She was pretty sure her brother hadn't ever affixed one of his flying thunder god jutsu seals to her person… But there was a huge difference between 'pretty sure' and 'absolutely sure'. Having her brother show up while she was living in a hut in the middle of the woods with an enemy shinobi and three children… well... as Kira Inuzuka would say, 'That would be a whole new world of awkward.'

To make matters infinitely worse… she wasn't sure which would be more devastating. Having her brother show up unannounced or waking up one morning to find that Ay and the three kittens had all marched off to Kumogakure.

Late one night, when she was fairly sure that the three cubs were fast asleep, she nudged Ay awake. He stretched, yawned, and immediately tried to kiss her. He'd been doing that more and more... as he recovered from his injuries his ardor was building. Yet another sign he was feeling better. Normally that would make Mizako feel all melty warm inside. She loved the knowledge that she could arouse him to such a fiery passion… but not tonight. She had other things on her mind. "You're giving those three shinobi training," she said matter of factly. "Why?"

Underneath her, she felt his shrug. "It's the only training I know how to give, half pint."

Mizako propped herself up on one elbow. "Ay, they're only children…"

"They are of age to enter the Academy, either the one in Kumo or Konoha." There was a sigh from under her, and she felt his hand brush her cheek. "Mizako, those three have talents… they have abilities that… their enemies want. They also have no idea how to survive on their own. If learning how to fight and how to think gives them half a chance to survive in this world… Then I will be happy to teach it to them."

Mizako tried to sound cool and relaxed, but there was a cold knot of uneasiness in her stomach. "Were you even planning on telling me about this training? Asking if I wanted to help out?" There was silence underneath her. Mizako propped herself up on her elbows to stare down at him and angrily continued. "So… You'd teach them to be Kumo shinobi? Maybe take them back to your village, show off your new students to your father?" Her eyes were stinging and she squeezed them shut. "Maybe you would even be heartless enough to take them away from me without even saying goodbye!"

She felt him tense. "I... never said I was taking them to Kumo," he mumbled awkwardly.

"You didn't have to!" she snapped sharply. There was a mumbled sigh from Kyo and the rustling of blankets. "You didn't have to say it," she said again, whispering this time. "Every other word out of your mouth is something about how superior Kumo is to Konoha!" She blew out her breath in an angry hiss. "At least in Konoha no one will train them to be merciless killers."

It was dark in the hut but she could feel the frown radiating off of his face. "So instead you would take the three of them to the Hidden Leaf… right into the clutches of those who caged them in the first place? Yes… that's a great idea."

"My brother would never let anything happen to them!"

"Someone in Konoha gave the order to take them! Those were Leaf shinobi… and if you are correct that they weren't on a mission from the Hokage, then who were they getting their orders from?" Ay said in a low rumble. "And don't bother denying those masked shinobi were from your village again Squirt," he said quickly as Mizako drew a breath to argue. "I know you're smart enough to connect the dots. "

"I wasn't going to say anything of the sort!" Mizako lied. "I was just going to say that I doubt they'd be any safer in Kumogakure. You yourself just pointed out how useful their abilities are… are you trying to tell me that the Hidden Cloud is completely free from ambitious men?"

"Every land has shinobi of… questionable honor," he admitted quietly. "Some more than others, but I'd keep them safe," said Ay in a quiet murmur.

"From anyone and anything?" Mizako asked pointedly.

She felt movement as Ay nodded. "Anything."

"Even from the Raikage himself?"

There was a long pause. For a moment Mizako wondered if he was going to get angry as usual. "Yes," Ay finally said. "Even from my father."

Mizako was still feeling slightly betrayed by his admission that he was thinking of taking the cubs to his home village, so she ignored the sincerity in his voice. "I don't believe you."

Ay's right hand reached up and cupped her face. "I've done it before," he said hoarsely, "for people I… care deeply about."

She found herself blushing at his admission. The knot of pressure behind her scar began a pulsing in time to her heartbeat. She crawled up his chest and lay her head next to his. They stayed there like that for quite some time, her running her nails over his shoulders and arms, he tracing small circles on the back of her neck with his fingertips.

Eventually, Mizako tilted her head up and kissed him. "Sorry," she said quietly.

"Sorry for what?" he said with a yawn.

Mizako sighed. "I guess I'm just... worried. I know you're trying to do what you think is right, but they've been through so much, and I feel responsible for them, and they don't have anyone else in the world, and quite frankly… this is insane, Ay! We're living in a cabin in the woods with three children and any day now those peace talks in Amegakure are going to be over and my brother and your father are going be heading back and...What are we going to do?"

His lips grazed her forehead. "What do you want to do?"

"I… I don't know… I want to do what's best for them… and at the same time, I want to keep them and make sure they're safe..." Her voice trailed off. "I… don't want to lose this…" she whispered.

Ay laughed, a deep throaty chuckle. "You shouldn't worry,Kitten," he said drowsily. "Even a 'heartless' shinobi from the Hidden Cloud like myself can see how much you care for them… and they for you."

"Really?" asked Mizako quietly.

"Really. Tohru is bouncing around with her hair in braids, just like a miniature version of you, Yuki is trying to learn how to fish, Kyo himself has stopped swearing… when he remembers to." In the darkness he absentmindedly toyed with her hair. "You would make a fine mother to them," he whispered, so quietly she wasn't sure she heard him correctly.

"I would make a fine... what?" Mizako squeaked, her pulse roaring in her ears, but it was too late, Ay had already drifted off with a smile on his face.

As the dawn broke, Mizako awoke to find Ay's hand had slipped up underneath her flack jacket, inside her shirt, gently massaging her back. "Good morning," she said, yawning hugely.

Ay's eyes seemed to sparkle as he smiled at her "Good morning," he said in return. With each delicate downward push from his massage, she slowly became aware that there was another part of him that was waking up as well. Soon she could feel the hot length of him straining at her beneath the rough cloth of his trousers.

Mizako rubbed her thigh against his crotch and grinned as he shivered. "It looks like you're already wide awake."

Ay's response was to pull her forward and kiss her fiercely. His tongue pushed her lips open and there was the briefest clack of their teeth colliding. It had been only a little more than a week since they had last been together, but right now, it was feeling like it had been much longer. Nothing else seemed to matter. Not the summit in Amegakure, not the masked shinobi still supposedly hunting them, not the three kittens snoring gently in the hut. All that mattered was them being together.

His hands were exploring, sliding down her bare back, under her skirt and into her spandex shorts. Mizako, not to be outdone, ran her fingernails down his chest and slipped them into the hem of his pants, rubbing the pad of her thumb against the head of his throbbing member.

There was a cough. The first thing that flashed through Mizako's mind was, "Oh duck no… not again."

The cough was immediately followed by Yuki's voice, "Get your stupid tail out of my face!" and an angry yowl from Kyo. There was a spate of shuffling around and a loud cat's sneeze. "Bless you," said Yuki again.

There was the now the familiar bone snapping pop-pop-pop of one of the children shifting from one form to another. "I'm hungry," Tohru's soft voice echoed in the confines of the hut. Mizako sighed and began extracting herself from Ay's embrace.

Ay's hand firmly clamped down on her backside, molding her body to his. "Squad… atten-shun!" he barked. There was the patter of feet as she heard the three cubs scrambled upright. "Good morning everyone," he said in a low rumble.

"Good morning sensei!" the three cubs echoed, and Mizako couldn't help but giggle.

Ay's hand gave her a gentle warning swat on her butt. "We have a change in the usual order of things this morning. Mizako is not feeling well…"

"Is she sick?" asked Tohru worriedly.

Ay shook his head. "She is just a little tired. I thought it would be a nice treat for her to let her sleep in this morning."

"Then who is going to get breakfast?" asked Kyo suspiciously.

Mizako could hear the smile in Ay's voice. "You are." There was a surprised gasp from Tohru. "Don't look so surprised girl. I have trained the three of you for almost a week now. You have been hunting with me and you have been fishing with Mizako. It's time for you three to use that knowledge."

"So you won't come with us?" asked Yuki.

"No."

"But what if we don't find anything?" asked Tohru, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

Ay shrugged. "Then we go hungry." There was yelp of protest from Kyo. Ay sighed. "Fine... Then we eat a late breakfast. If you haven't found anything within an hour, return back here. Either Mizako or myself will head out with you to help."

Kyo and Tohru wandered out of the hut and into the sunshine. "Ay-sama," asked Yuki hesitantly in the doorway. "Is this... another test?"

"A test?"

"Like with the rabbit," he explained. "You're trying to see if we can work together?"

Ay nodded sagely. "Something like that yes… Oh and Yuki?" he said stopping the boy before he left the hut. "You are the team leader for this little mission."

"I am?" Mizako could hear the surprise and pride in the boy's voice.

"You are. Don't go too far from the hut, and make sure your brother and sister stay out of trouble."

"You can count on me Ay-sama!" There was a quiet thud as the door closed behind him.

"Something like that, yes," said Mizako in a passing imitation of Ay's voice, her hand once again dancing in Ay's pants. "So tell me Ay-sama, exactly what is this a test of?"

The Kumo shinobi's only response was to throw the cloak they were using as a blanket off of her and lift her up, level to his head. One hand pressed her body down into him as he drove his hips up against her, the other cradled her head as he kissed his way down her neck and onto her shoulder.

It had been a while. It didn't take Mizako very long at all to feel a deep flush of warmth in her stomach. Even though their clothes were between them, she found herself rocking her hips in time to each one of his thrusts.

She sat up to straddle him better, placing her hands on his chest and pressing down for balance. But during a particularly enthusiastic build of friction, she noticed a twinge of pain around his eyes. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed, stopping suddenly. "I'm so sorry Ay, I completely forgot about your back!"

"I'm fine Kitten," he said, sitting up and carrying her with him. "I just need to change positions is all."

Mizako sat in his lap, wrapping her legs around his waist. She pressed forward tentatively. She grinned as she felt the hot, curved length of him still straining against his trousers.

Mizako reached over, unfastened his flack jacket, and slowly pushed it off his broad shoulders. She did the same with his shirt, and ran her hands over the hard slabs of his pectorals and abs. She kissed him once right in the center of his chest, and heard him inhale sharply. She lowered her head and kissed him three more times, then giving him a grinning upward glance, she licked his stomach.

Ay shivered. "Feeling ticklish today Ay?" she said impishly, sliding her hands into his armpits. He immediately slid both his arms down her back, curving them around her buttocks, and effectively trapping her hands. "Hey!" she said pulling on her arms sharply.

"No," he said with a sly grin, "I am not feeling ticklish… not at all… Are you?" He gently wiggled his thumbs in that tender spot just above her hips.

Mizako burst out laughing. "Stop it! Stop it!" she wailed, squirming back and forth in his lap.

Thankfully he did stop. She gasped trying to catch her breath. "Well, my dearest little Kitten," he said kissing her forehead and the tip of her nose, "it appears I have caught you… What on earth should I do with you now?"

Mizako could feel the flush hot on her face. "I have a few ideas," she said pressing herself forward and wrapping her legs around his lower back. Ay winced again. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she said with a cringe, immediately pulling back. "Maybe we shouldn't be doing this."

"No," Ay's voice had such an uncharacteristic note of tenderness in it that Mizako stopped trying to extricate herself and looked up. "I want this," he said softly, his chocolate brown eyes staring into her bright blue ones. He leaned forward and his lips touched hers, gently at first, and then harder, more passionately. "I want you." She could feel the deep growl of his words vibrating in his chest. "I want you now."

His fingers worked their way into the hem of her skirt and spandex shorts, tugging them down, exposing her lower abdomen and the lines where her upper leg met her pelvis. Mizako was blushing again, but she could also feel her excitement building as well, each time one of his fingers touched bare skin a delicious shiver would course through her.

Ay's hold on her arms was slowly loosening, so she pulled them free and began plucking at the drawstring of his trousers. He grunted with pleasure and began kissing her with renewed vigor. His mouth and tongue danced along her jawline and she tilted back her head and offered him her neck, suppressing a small cry of pleasure as he nipped at the throat and ears. "Oh gods Ay, I want you too…" she found herself murmuring in a quiet whisper.

"What was that, Kitten?" His voice rumbled. His hands had given up on her skirt for the moment and had slid up her torso, pulling her shirt and mesh vest up with them.

Mizako lifted her arms to let Ay pull them free. She shivered once at first as her skin went all goose pimpled at the sudden rush of cool air, and then a second time as Ay's mouth and tongue flowed like a warm cloud, circling one erect nipple and then the other. "You said you wanted something? What could you possibly want, my Kitten?" he asked again, in between kisses, more insistently this time.

"I want you too," she moaned. "I need you…" He slowly began to pull her down on top of him.

"Wait," said Mizako stopping him with a hand on his chest. "Seriously Ay… We need to be careful… I don't want you to get hurt… Especially not during… you know…"

He put his hand over hers and slowly nudged it down to his bulging crotch. "I feel fine." Ay's eyes crinkled with amusement. "You forget who you are talking to Kitten, we Kumo shinobi are capable of incredible feats of endurance."

Mizako giggled. "I can see that... but really Ay… I'm worried about your back. The floor here is dirty, we don't want you to get an infection... again."

Ay's face slowly split into a wry grin. "Suits me just fine." He locked his hands underneath her butt and slowly stood.

"Ack! What are you doing!" Mizako cried out as she unsteadily rose into the air.

"See? Now we don't have to worry about the floor," his voice rumbled. He was dangling Mizako in front of him, facing him, holding her like she was in a swing. "We don't even have to worry about the difference in our heights," he said in an amused voice. His shoulder and arms bunched like steel cables and he pulled her up to a level where he could comfortably kiss her.

Mizako really liked that. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him as wildly as she could. Her small breasts rubbed back and forth across his chest as she kissed his mouth, his cheeks, and bit him gently on that soft tender spot beneath each of his ears that would make him shiver every time. While she was climbing over him, Ay shifted his grip to hold her up with only one hand. As Mizako hooked her legs over his hips to steady herself, Ay's other hand began to climb up under her skirt. A small gasp escaped her lips as his fingers gently massaged between her thighs.

Gods it felt good. Mizako began to move against his hand. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against his shoulder, letting out small, sharp cries each time his fingers skimmed over that small precise spot.

Her excitement was beginning to spread to Ay as well. He was breathing heavily. His penis was fully upright and iron hard, straining at his trousers. Every so often, as Mizako grinded against him, she would unintentionally brush it with the faintest whisper of a touch. Those few touches were enough to send his member into an almost painful throbbing spasm of ecstasy.

Ay could take it no more. "One moment, Kitten," he said, slowly lowering her down so she was standing on the floor. With one deft move he hooked his thumbs inside the hem of her skirt and shorts and started to pull them downward.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Mizako started to fumble with the drawstring of his pants. She got the knot undone just as Ay undressed her. She had to pull on them a bit this way and that to untangle his cock from the cloth, but soon he was just as naked as she was.

They stood there for a moment, Ay looking down at her, Mizako looking up at him, before she took a step towards him, closing the distance. The top of her head barely came up to mid chest on him. With eyes full of longing, she took both of his hands and cupped them around her small but firm breasts, gently working his fingers around her tightening nipples.

Ay stepped closer still. His warm shaft throbbing in time to his heartbeat sliding across her stomach. Her skin was so smooth, remarkably unblemished for one who chose the shinobi life. No doubt her brother's overprotectiveness had something to do with that. Mizako had only two noticeable scars - a pair of puckered little triangles about the size of his thumb. One was right in the center of her breastbone, it's twin on her lower back.

His brother's katana had given them to her. The Jinchuriki of the Eight tails and the Five tails had been captured… under the hypnotic control of a mysterious shinobi who somehow had the power to command the tailed beasts. Mizako had fought that shinobi, fighting for the release of Bee, even though she barely knew him. She had defeated the mysterious enemy in the end, but not before his brother, still under that man's control, had run her through.

Mizako had only the haziest memory of what had happened and what she did remember, she was reluctant to share. When Ay had confided to Bee that he was having a relationship with the girl from Konoha, Bee had confessed to him what had happened… How the blow that almost killed her was his... and how the only reason she was alive today was that the Five tails had healed her by filling her with chakra.

He circled the scar on her chest three times with one fingertip, before sliding his hand down to her crotch again. She shivered and pressed tighter against him. Her labia were warm and inviting. He could already feel her excitation and a warm nectar covered his fingers as he moved slowly sliding round and round.

Mizako reached over and cupped his balls with one hand. She encircled his throbing penis with the other and began to gently stroke it up and down. She smiled at his faint grunts of pleasure. His eyes were closed and his mouth was hanging open as he rocked back and forth in time to her hand. She loved that look on his face. That happy, vulnerable look that he got when he was with her. Grinning mischievously, Mizako bent over and let her tongue swipe his tip before taking him in her mouth, locking her lips around his girth before starting to suck gently.

Ay jumped. His whole body convulsed. One of his hands gripped her shoulder tightly while the other twitched inside of her. Letting go of his testicles, Mizako took one of her braids and used the end to brush the base of his member while her tongue continued to massage the tip. "What… are… you… doing?" Ay asked in a heavily strained voice.

She looked up at him with wide innocent eyes. She let go of him, swirling one last time her tongue around his head as he shuddered. "We never established if you were ticklish today or not," she said in a guiltless, girlish voice. "I just wanted to see if… Mmmph!"

With a speed brought on by fiery passion, Ay scooped her back up into his arms. His mouth sought hers with a furious intensity. He held her there, positioned perfectly above him. She could feel him, a warm throbbing that echoed the rolling, eager feeling that was fluttering all the way up to her stomach. Ay broke off their kiss and, still panting heavily, relaxed his hold on her slightly, letting gravity take over.

Mizako couldn't restrain herself, she cried out as he entered her... She could feel herself being stretched...and it felt so good. She called out his name in a great gulp of air as she clamped tightly around him, her muscles locking in sheer pleasure.

Then he picked up her bottom and let her slide down the length of him again… and again… and again. She heard herself moan in a low, animalistic voice at the sensations that were swamping her. Calling out his name, she thrust her hips against him willing him, begging him, to go faster. "Oh… Oh Ay!"

Spurred on by her frantic calls he complied, one hand on her butt, lifting her up and down, the other across her back, holding her to him, stabilizing her so that she could ride him comfortably.

She felt her orgasm coming on. She buried her face against him, trying to muffle her cries of passion to no avail. The waves of pleasure crashed over her like waves at the beach, each one stronger than before, tugging at her, pulling her farther and farther out of control. With a great shudder, she dug her fingernails into his biceps and screamed his name into his chest.

She was shaking like a leaf in his arms, her insides quivering and convulsing around him. Ay let her slide down his shaft one last time. "Oh Gods, Mizako!" he groaned, thrusting inside of her as hard and as deeply as she could handle. His whole body shuddered once, twice, three times, and there was a burst of warmth deep inside her belly.

They stood there, clinging to each other, sticky with sweat in the cool air. Ay felt himself softening, slowly leaving her warm folds. He absentmindedly began caressing the smooth skin of her back, holding her close, needing that sensation of her body nuzzled up against him. Ay couldn't remember the last time he had lost himself in a moment of passion like that. He held her and kissed her hair, marveling at this small woman in his arms, this elfin young kunoichi, still shaking with the tremors of passion. At this very moment, he knew he would give her the world if she but asked him. Somehow, this girl had once again, managed to make him feel more vulnerable than any opponent he had ever met on the field of battle.

Mizako snuggled up tightly to him, tasting his skin, breathing in the scent of him. She felt in that exact moment if he asked her to come and join him in Kumogakure, the way he had sometimes suggested in the past… she might not be able to say no.

Then his cum started dribbling down her leg. That convinced her it was time to get down and start to clean up… now. Right now, before any innocent little lion children, or gods forbid a search party from Konoha showed up.

Only there was nothing readily available to clean up with. She looked frantically around the hut. She wasn't going to use her cloak, or her clothes. "I'll… Um… I'll be right back," she said maniacally grinning up at Ay's questioning look. She grabbed the iron cook pot and stuck her nose outside the door, checking to make sure there weren't any cubs lurking about.

Quick as a wink she hopped outside, scooped up a pot full of snow, and dashed back in the hut. She set the pot on a small pile of charred sticks left over from cooking dinner last night and ignited them with a small fire jutsu. "What on earth are you doing?" Ay asked with one eyebrow raised.

She stirred the snow with a stick, making it melt faster. "I'm trying to clean up," she muttered impatiently.

"What was that, Kitten?"

"Never you mind… just turn around... or look the other way… or something." Mizako dipped her hands into the pot now a quarter full of water and splashed a handful on her inner thighs.

She squeaked. Ay was immediately at her side. "What's wrong? I didn't… hurt you did I?"

"N-No! The w-water is just c-c-old!" she said shivering. She scooped up another handful and did her best to rub herself clean.

"Of course it's cold Kitten, it was snow a few seconds ago." Ay watched her reach for a third handful, and he felt a sharp pang as she winced again. He knew it! He had hurt her… and of course the hard headed little half pint would try to hide it from him… no doubt because of some half thought out worry about his feelings! What a fool he'd been! He shouldn't have let himself lose control like that! He knew he should have been more gentle! As she reached out for the water a fourth time, he grabbed her about the wrist. "Stop," he said gently but firmly. "I've hurt you… I'm sorry," he said in a tender voice. "I'm so sorry."

She tried to pull her hand away. "Ay, I'm fine! I just need a moment to…"

He didn't believe her for a second. "Stop trying to hide it and show me what's wrong." He knelt down and started to press her legs apart.

"Nothing's w-wrong!" she insisted. The blush start to spread across her face and chest as he stared. "I'm just… just… um… You see when you… um… and then gravity started to pull it down and… um…" There was the discrete sound of pattering on the floor of the hut. "Um…" Mizako stammered again, her face turning beet red. She tugged on her hand and crossed her knees. "Look, I just... need to wash up," she mumbled.

Ay felt the relief flow through him and started to laugh. "It's not funny!" she barked. "I need to clean it up or else it's going to feel weird and itchy for the rest of the day!"

Still on his knees, Ay caught hold of one of her braids. With the most delicate of tugs, he used it to pull her towards him. On his knees like this, she was slightly taller than he was. He looked up and kissed her. "Gods you are adorable," he said in a hungry growl.

"Adorable, but dirty," said Mizako in a huff.

"Let it rest for now Mizako, we can wash up later… We'll definitely need to wash up later," he said kissing her again.

Mizako ran her fingers through his hair. "Why?"

Ay pulled her forward. She felt him against her knees, slowly hardening again. "Well… the children aren't back… and we still have time… I think we should make the most of it," he said with a seductive grin. "Don't you?"


	13. Chapter 13

" _Mizako! Ay!" I called again. We could smell the pair of them in there. We had also heard some faint noises coming from inside the hut, but those abruptly stopped the first time I called out. "Mizako-san!" I called yet again. "Ay-san! Are you in there?"_

" _They're in there," grumbled Kyo, "They're just pretending they don't hear us."_

" _Why?" I asked, confused and a little hurt._

 _Kyo shrugged. "Because they're both jerks maybe?"_

" _Tohru!" came Mizako's voice from inside the hut. "We'll be… out in a second. You three just... hold on."_

" _Typical," said Kyo with a sniff._

" _Typical what?" I asked._

" _Typical how everyone just kicks us out and goes and makes their big secret important decisions without asking us a single goddamned thing."_

 _I looked at my brother. "What are you talking about?"_

 _Kyo shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? They're trying to figure out where they're going to send us next… Kumo or Konoha. Didn't you hear them talking last night?"_

 _We had heard them. And to be honest it worried me. Both Ay and Mizako had talked about their home villages with such pride, with such loyalty. Every time one of them discussed the topic of us coming to live in their specific village, they painted it in such glowing terms that I felt like I couldn't refuse… They spoke the truth. I could smell that they honestly believed what they were saying._

 _But last night… Last night they also spoke the truth. Many times before, especially when they were… arguing… each of them had made claims that there was a darkness in Konoha, or a harshness in Kumo, but until last night I had always taken that to be petty squabbling, like when Yuki called Kyo stupid, or Kyo told him he was ugly. When Ay and Mizako would fight and fume they would throw such comments back and forth at each other._

 _But last night… last night, when they thought we were fast asleep, they were in tacit agreement. The masked men were from the Leaf? The Raikage kidnapped people? Ay might have to protect us from his own father? I didn't like that. My brothers and I were well aware of the evils that men could do! Mizako and Ay knew this! It bothered me that they would try to hide such important facts like that when describing their homes._

 _It also bothered me... maybe even more that the potential untruths, to think that Ay and Mizako were technically not allies. There had been wars between their two villages… there could be wars again… I worried that if we joined Kumo, did that mean we would one day have to fight against Mizako? If we went back to Mizako's village, would we end up battling Ay?_

 _Even worse, Mizako had mentioned we were running out of time. Sooner or later they would have to make a decision. What were they going to do with us? When the time did come for Mizako and Ay to make a decision… who would we go with? Would we ever see the other one again?_

" _Personally, I'm hoping we all head off to Kumo," Kyo said with a shrug. "I mean, Mizako is okay… for a girl," he said, smirking as I glowered at him. "But, Ay-sensei… That man is a total badass!"_

" _Well I hope that we go to Konoha!" I said, trying to stick up for Mizako. "Her brother sounds much nicer than the Raikage!"_

" _He sounds like a wuss," scoffed Kyo, turning away from me._

" _The food is better in Konoha," I said slyly._

 _Kyo froze mid turn. "Really?"_

 _Yuki snorted. "They're not going to bring us to either village," he said in a knowing voice._

" _They're going to abandon us?" I asked in a note of despondent horror._

 _Yuki laughed and rubbed my head. "They're not going to leave us… They want us to stay right here… they don't want to leave us and they don't want to leave each other."_

" _Huh?" grunted Kyo._

 _Think about it… You heard them last night. If they go back to their respective villages, they won't be able to be together and they might end up fighting each other." My brother shook his head. "Right here… right now… they're happy."_

 _Kyo snorted. "You're dreaming. No way they'd want keep living in this dump._

" _Kyo!" I exclaimed in an affronted voice. I actually liked living here. Like Mizako and Ay, I was happy. My brother Yuki was the smartest out of all of us. If he thought that we were going to stay… then so did I. It would be the most perfect dream come true for me._

" _What? It is a dump!" Kyo glared grouchily at the hut for a moment and then started over to the door. "Screw this. I'm hungry. I'm going to go see what's taking those two so long."_

" _I wouldn't," Yuki warned._

" _Yes, Kyo… Yuki is right… Please give them a moment. If we interrupt their discussion they might get upset!" I insisted._

 _Kyo sneered at me. "One interruption, coming right up!"_

" _Actually, I was thinking that they were probably kissing in there… with tongues," Yuki said smugly._

 _Kyo froze in his tracks. "What?"_

 _Yuki shrugged. "Think about it. Do you honestly think that Mizako is feeling tired? Didn't you notice? She didn't smell even the slightest bit tired when we left. Ay is feeling better for the first time in about a week. They probably just wanted some alone time." He stared at our brother with an evil glint in his eye. "Big wet sloppy kisses," he teased._

 _Kyo shivered for a moment, but then set his shoulders. "All the more reason to interrupt them then."_

" _Kyo!" I exclaimed as he took another step forward._

" _They might even be making babies in there," said Yuki casually._

* * *

 _There was a loud guffaw from the red haired male cub, but the storyteller ignored it. "Babies," she said reminiscing dreamily, "well, that all but settled it in my young mind. If Mizako and Ay were thinking about starting a family there chances were excellent we were going to stay."_

" _Kyo's mouth was hanging open in an expression of horror and disgust. He looked from the door to the hut, to his brother, then back to the hut. 'They wouldn't… That is just… eww!' he exclaimed."_

" _It is not 'Eww!' I snapped back. 'I think it's romantic!"_

" _I think you're a weirdo!' insisted my brother."_

" _We all turned at the squeak of the hut door's hinges. Mizako and Ay stepped out into the sunshine with wrinkled clothes and with mussed hair. They were also grinning ear to ear. As they walked towards us, Ay leaned down and whispered something into Mizako's ear. She giggled and pulled him to her before giving him a long drawn out kiss._

" _Kyo made a gagging noise. 'You know what?' he said in a nauseous voice. 'Forget breakfast... I think I'm going to puke."_

 _The storyteller shifted her legs from one side to the other and surveyed her audience. The fire was dying down, logs turning into glowing red embers. Several of the cubs were getting drowsy. The red haired cub was laughing behind his hand at her description of Kyo's reaction. The green eyed little girl was yawning hugely, struggling to stay awake. She was going to have to move this along if she didn't want to lose the younger half of her audience._

 _She took a deep breath and continued. "As you might have guessed by now, it only took Kyo about thirty seconds to change his mind. As soon as Ay and Mizako asked whether we would prefer fish or some sort of meat for breakfast, my brother raised his hand and insisted on both."_

 _The storyteller smiled. "We decided we should try to get both. Kyo, Yuki and Ay offered to do a small hunt, while I volunteered to go fishing with Mizako. She said she had found this promising new fishing spot some ways down river, so we packed up the net and the old baitline she had made and we began to hike."_

* * *

 _It was a bright sunny day. The warmth of reflected sunlight made it easy to ignore the chill in my toes from the melting snow. Mizako and I followed a little iced over footpath that wove its way through the trees lining the bank of the stream. Flocks of little brown and grey birds hopped their way amongst the trees. There was an awful lot of chatter from the birds as they fluttered back and forth between the branches, swooping through the clouds of midge flies hovering over the bubbling river._

 _They all made the same four note cry as they dove for their meal. I stood watching them for a moment, pursed my lips and tried to imitate them. Every bird went quiet and stared at me, heads bobbing. Then suddenly there was an answering four notes from some tree far away. Again I made the twitter and this time more birds joined in. Eventually, all the trees were filled with chirping, all of them responding to my calls._

 _Mizako stepped beside me and smiled. "Great job Tohru! I didn't know you could whistle like that!_

 _I rubbed my feet together sheepishly. "I didn't know either," I admitted shyly._

" _Can you follow this?" she asked, whistling out a bright jaunty tune. It had a fast little beat and a vague martial sound to it. The music itself was very short, only four bars before it repeated. It took me no time at all to copy her. Once I mastered the the music, Mizako started to whistle out a harmony to the tune._

 _We stood there in the sunshine, by the river, and made music for the pure joy of it. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it meant a lot to me. It was a perfect moment… One of those moments that you just know you are going to remember someone by for the rest of your life._

 _When the tune faded away I just stood there, staring at her. I wanted to tell Mizako so badly how I was feeling, how my brothers and I were feeling, how we wanted to stay with her and Ay, here in the woods forever and be a family... and at the same time I was terrified that the moment I opened my mouth and said anything it would ruin everything… we knew the difficulties we were causing, and if I brought anything to their attention, I was afraid that all the wonderful things we had right now would vanish._

 _So like the coward I was, I opted for the next thing that popped into my head. "That was a very pretty melody," I said, forcing myself to smile through the sudden queasiness in my stomach. "Is it a Konoha song?"_

 _Mizako gave a chuckle and shook her head. "No. It's from Uzushiogakure. Kushina taught it to me. It's a very old song called the "The Water Spirals on." She paused and looked at me thoughtfully. "I guess if you wanted to get technical, it's from your homeland."_

" _My homeland?"_

 _Mizako shrugged. "Well, I don't know for sure but, I would guess so... I mean I only read about it at the Academy, but there was a clan of cat shifters from the same place as Kushina, the Hidden Whirlpool village… they called themselves the Tsukuineko clan."_

 _I nodded. "Yes. I heard Ay-sama and Kakashi-sama talking about them… before." I had never thought about my clan before. Family to me was just my two brothers. There had never been anyone else.. And once again, here was Mizako, showing she had more ties to me than I would have ever expected._

" _Anyway, it's my sister-in-law's favorite song, she sings it all the time," Mizako continued. "It tells the story of the founding of the Hidden Whirlpool village... Of how long ago a group of settlers was travelling from one continent to another, when their ship got caught in a terrible storm. All their sails were torn away and they could do nothing but drift wherever the ocean currents pushed them. They drifted for weeks before they finally sighted land, but the island they saw was at the point of three intersecting currents, and a huge vortex spun there in the ocean, sucking everything down to the seabed."_

" _Now at this point, many of the passengers were ready to give up. "This voyage is cursed! We will never see land again!" they wailed. But their chieftain didn't say a word. He just stared at the whirlpool for a moment and then sat down in the belly of the boat, put a pair of oars in the water, and started rowing. "What are you doing?" the people yelled at him. "Can't you see it's hopeless? It's fate! The stars themselves have marked us for death!"_

 _Mizako smiled. "It isn't the stars that control our destinies, but ourselves," the clan chieftain grunted, never missing a stroke. "You can sit there and cry if you want, but I refuse to go down without a fight!" One by one the other members of his clan joined him. Men, women, children... for five days they rowed against the pull of the maelstrom of the sea. On the fifth day, they managed to break free from the currents and land their boat on the shore of the island. It wasn't their original destination, but it became their home." She motioned for me to keep on walking. "Kushina loves it so much because she says it reminds her that through perseverance and tenacity you can realize your dreams… Maybe not the exact dream you wanted… but something that's close enough."_

 _I thought it was a sign... An omen. I summoned every last ounce of courage I had. This was it. "Mizako-sama? I was wondering if it would be okay if I asked you something…"_

 _She gave me that sweet wide smile, the same one she gave to me when she was freeing us from the cage. "Tohru… you can ask me anything. And please no honorifics. Just call me Mizako."_

 _I took a deep breath. "Mizako... will... you be my mother?" The words exploded out in a rush. There was no other way for them to come out of my mouth._

 _The smile on Mizako's face froze. "What… What did you just say?"_

 _My face felt like it was on fire but I bravely forged on ahead. "Yuki and Kyo and I overheard what you and Ay were talking about last night…"_

 _Mizako looked like she just swallowed a live frog. "What did you hear?" she squeaked."_

 _Despite all the beatings and punishments I had suffered in my youth, I had never felt more like a scared little girl than I did in that moment. "Well, we heard you and Ay saying how time was running out and how you needed to figure out what to do… and well… we decided that we all want to stay together… like a family… with you and Ay." I looked up at Mizako, her lips were pressed together so tightly that they were turning white. "Even Kyo thought it was a good idea. There has never been anyone who cared for us like the pair of you and we know that the hut we live in is dirty and small, but we have never had anything like this before and we… we want to…" I let my words drift off into nothingness._

 _She just looked at me, saying nothing. She just stared at me her eyes wide and shiny. I felt my stomach sink. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't mean to…"_

 _She hugged me. She hugged me and suddenly I was crying into the front of her shirt and she was smoothing my hair. "Oh Tohru, you don't have to apologize," she murmured against my forehead. "I would love to be your mother, and be a family with you and your brothers and Ay…" and I was filled with the most wonderful feeling, that feeling that everything is going to be alright._

 _She let me finish crying and then stood me back up. She looked down at me with the most uncomfortable face, and then tore the bottom out of my world. "I would love to," she said quietly. "But as much as I want it to Tohru… I can't… I can't make something like that happen."_

 _I felt myself hunching over, as if someone had knocked the air out of me. "It's not that I don't care for you three... or Ay… but there is a problem with the all of us staying out here. Ay is very important in his village and I... well if I don't return home soon, my brother will worry…"_

 _I stopped listening to her explanation. Yuki was wrong. She and Ay did care for each other, and maybe for us too, a little bit, but it wasn't enough to change the direction that things were headed. Once again my brothers and I would be alone, our little moment of happiness would be lost. Our protectors would be lost… and then, no doubt, something bad would inevitably happen. "It's okay Mizako-sama," I said interrupting her long explanation. "I understand."_

 _She put her hands on my shoulder. "No Tohru, I don't think you do…. You see…"_

 _I shrugged her hands away. "I told you, I understand!" I snapped. I was very angry and hurt and jealous. That was the first time I remember really feeling that way._

" _I understand completely," I started in a hurt voice. "You and Ay don't want us. You're not interested in having Yuki and Kyo and me be part of your family! That's why you two were busy making babies in the hut this morning!"_

 _Mizako's face first turned pale, and then bright red. "B-babies?" she stammered. "Ay and I… we weren't…"_

" _Don't lie! Why do you adults always lie!? You were! We could smell it!" I insisted. Anger at all the injustices the world had ever heaped upon my head bubbled up inside of me and for the first time ever I lashed out. "And I know why you you were doing it too! We're not good enough! You're going to leave me and Yuki and Kyo alone again, aren't you? You don't care that we're going to be caged again! That we're going to slaves again! You just want to be together with Ay! You just want your own children!" I was positively shrieking by this point._

 _I tried to run off into the woods, but once again Mizako was too fast. She grabbed my hand and refused to let go. "Tohru," she said softly but firmly, "I… I will never be able to be together with Ay. He and I are from rival villages and... what is happening between us is forbidden…" There was a little hitch in her voice. She winced and rubbed at her chest, as if something was hurting her. "I just… can't be with him." She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "And he can't be with me. I swear to you though, both us care for you and your brothers very deeply… as if you were our own children. Right now… we just don't know what to do… but we will figure out something… Between the two of us, we will come up with something that will work for the three of you." She slowly pulled me towards her and hugged me. This time she was the one crying. "I'm sorry Torhu… I wish I could make it work out differently. But I promise... that no matter what happens I will always love you… and I will never let anything happen to you or your brothers… ever."_

" _I don't understand," I whined, finally admitting the truth. "If you want to be with Ay and us, why can't you just run away and…"_

 _Mizako held up one hand and shushed me. At first I thought she was upset at my outburst, but then I saw her eyes were anxiously darting all around. "Do you hear that?" she asked in a low hiss._

" _Hear what?" I answered back, but Mizako just waved me to silence again. I listened. I didn't hear anything._

 _And then it struck me. I didn't hear_ _anything_ _. The birdsong had vanished. The pair of us were standing in a perfectly silent bubble in the woods._

 _The air suddenly felt ten degrees colder. The shadows of the trees looked darker. A thick white mist floated up from the river and began circulating through the forest, turning everything into a bland wall of grey._

 _Mizako seized my hand. "Shirt, duck, duck, duck, shirt, duck, shirt!" she muttered under her breath. "We've been found… Tohru, get on my back and hold on tight. We're going to have to warn Ay and the others."_

 _She ran through the clouds. My face and hair were wet with moisture. Every so often Mizako would dodge around the looming dark trunk of a tree as she sped through the forest. Surrounded by the fog, we could hear nothing but the soggy crunch of her footsteps on the slushy snow. Even the splashing of the brook quickly faded away to nothingness. The forest, which moments before had been a thing of light and and tranquility, now seemed to me to be a haunted place… a realm of evil spirits and hungry ghosts._

 _There was the shape of another tree, dead ahead of us in the mists. Mizako ran to the left, but in the swirling fog she must have lost her sense of direction for moments later, it was right in front of us again. She curved off to the right, but after another handful of steps it was right there, blocking our path._

 _Mizako slowed for a moment, thinking, and then sped up, charging straight at the tree in front of us. I gave a short scream when the whole thing shifted. I could now clearly see that what I thought was a tree was now a man in a cloak. He raised his head and underneath his hood, I found myself staring into a featureless, bone white mask._

 _The masked shinobi made a grab for Mizako as she sped by, dodging at the last second. His fingers caught a handful of my hair that tore from my head with an eye watering wince. Mizako didn't slow down however. One by one other 'trees' in the forest were starting to move._

 _They couldn't keep pace with her, but they had positioned themselves well. Mizako kept having to turn sharply to avoid running into various groups of masked shinobi._

 _They were herding us, like Ay taught us to herd that first rabbit we caught. One moment Mizako was dodging and spinning throughout the snow, the next the earth underneath us jumped and she skidded as if she had lost her footing._

 _The frozen ground below us had turned into a swampy bog and Mizako was quickly sinking. "Get off Tohru!" she shouted, trying to toss me over to dry ground._

 _At first it seemed like it was a futile attempt. I landed with splash in the mud. But I found my feet could easily reach the bottom. I put one foot on the frozen snow and leaned out over the swamp as far as I could, stretching out with both hands. "Mizako-sama!" I cried out, "I'll help you! Grab my hand!" Just as my fingers were brushing hers, the bog made a dry crackling sound and hardened into stone._

 _There were footsteps on the dry ground. A masked shinobi came through the fog and stopped right behind Mizako. He reached down, and never saying a word, took hold of one of her braids and ran it through his fingers. I backed away slowly, whimpering. I recognized the smell of him. Tamago-sama._

 _As soon as she felt something tug on her hair, Mizako ran through a series of hand signs and let loose a searing flare of flame. Tamago wasn't there. Somehow he had vanished. Mizako went back to trying to free herself. Again the footsteps approached us over the hard stone. This time, Tamago didn't touch her, he just looked down at Mizako as she struggled, trapped in rock hard mud up to the knee. I was almost certain he was laughing._

 _The old me would have run right then. The old me was terrified of everything. I would have done anything to avoid being punished… That was the old me._

 _During our training, Ay-sensei taught us that you have to be willing to protect what is yours… and Mizako...she might not have been… perfect. Our little makeshift family situation might not have been ideal, or… anything other than a very temporary thing. It wasn't what I wanted… but Mizako was what I had... I loved her… she was mine._

 _I was still terrified, but I stepped forward. I felt the sharp stings from the tips of my fingers as I allowed my claws to burst forth. "Leave her alone!" I tried to snarl. It came out more like a squeak. Tamago's mask didn't move. He just stood there studying Mizako in an overly interested way._

 _Whenever he had stared at me like that, that was when Kyo had always tried his hardest to goad him into a fight._

 _I took another step forward, and he still didn't move. Emboldened, I swiped at him with my claws. He vanished before the blow ever fell. Much too late I sensed him behind me. His returning blow made me see stars as I collapsed on the hardened stony swamp. Woozy with pain, I tried to roll to my feet the way Ay had taught me, and scratch out at him again. For a second time my claws touched nothing but air._

 _His fist came from the left, a sharp downward strike, followed by a kick to my mid section. The side of my head hit the hardened stone as I fell. I felt a moment of sharp stinging pain followed by a warm sticky wetness flowing through my hair and down my neck. Mizako was saying something, but her voice sounded like my head was underwater. Once again I forced myself to stagger to my feet, claws at the ready. I twisted my head, this way and that but Tamago was nowhere to be seen._

 _Mizako shrieked out my name. She was staring over my shoulder, her eyes wide. I twisted around to stare groggily at Tamago-sama, his arm swinging downward, trying to drive a kunai into my back._

 _What was stopping him was a thick tentacle wrapped around his wrist. Mizako was quick to try to take advantage. She threw what must have been a dozen small fireballs at him, but he moved like a gymnast, dodging every one. He shifted his knife to his other hand and moved to strike me a second time._

 _There was a rippling twanging sound, like steel cables snapping and shaking in the air. Long strands of black webbing snared his other arm. Mizako shot fire at him again, but this time he leapt into the air and spun, letting the flaming orbs pass underneath him._

 _The threads trailed off into the fog. A huge dark shadow could be seen lurking amongst the mist, a set of six red eyes flashing angrily amongst the vapors. There was a pause in Mizako's attacks and Tamago-sama strained against his bonds, trying to break free, but then suddenly he froze. The faint sound of ringing bells could be heard echoing amongst the trees._

 _The chimes grew louder. "Please calm yourself for the moment Tamago-kun," said Majo-sama in a voice dripping with false cheer. "Let's not actively try to destroy the cargo... hmmm?" Once again the heavy black wings sprouted from her back to deflect a burst of fire as Mizako shifted her attacks from Tamago to her. "Really now Namikaze-chan, was calling attention to yourself like that the wisest move to make? We both know what will happen now…"_

 _Dark loops of what looked like thick string blasted through the fog and whipped around Mizako. She tried to dodge, to swerve out of the way, but with her feet trapped, there was nowhere to go. The threads swirled around her in a great cloud, binding her up to her nose. Her face grew red and her eyes were wide as the dark silk tightened. She tried to yell something to me but the noise was almost completely muffled._

 _I doubt I would have heard her even if her mouth was free. Majo-sama was right in front of me, bending down, that eyeless mask of hers centimeters away from my own face. I could smell the fetid stench of her spider demons clouding around her like an infernal aura. I could also smell my own fear. My brain told me that I had to stand up to her, to protect Mizako, but my body kept screaming that it was time to run. My brain won... but only because my legs were jelly._

" _I have a task for you child," she said in the voice of one talking to a simpleton. Her breath was scented with mint, and the sheer… normalness of that disturbed me far more than the smell of her pets. "I want you to run… run and find your friend Ay." I must have goggled at her wide eyed, for she tilted up her head and laughed, a cold heartless sound. "You heard me right… Run! Go and find the Raikage's heir… remind him that he and I have unfinished business."_

 _Mizako, caught in the double grip of hardened stone and spider silk bounced up and down angrily, trying to say something. This was my Mizako… she had done so much for me, had selflessly helped me in my hour of need. There was no way I was going to desert her now. I tried to stare at the eyeless mask of Majo-sama and swallowed. "No," I said in a tremulous whisper…_

* * *

" _Quite the little hero... Was this the start of your battle against the sealing witch?" called a gruff voice from across the fire._

 _Everyone looked up. A lean sinewy male with sharp cheekbones and hard green eyes was standing at the far side of the fire. "Daddy!" squealed the little green eyed girl cub, running her way over to him. This new arrival picked her up and held her close as he walked back to his family's spot next to the fire._

 _He nodded to his mate, and she untangled one arm from the dozing twin in her lap to reach out for him, but there was a chill formality in the action, lacking the loving caresses you would usually see among those of the Pard who had bonded to each other. Once he was sitting, he bounced his daughter a little bit on his knee, before pushing her to one side and turning his glowing green gaze on the storyteller. "I apologize for the interruption... please continue… Your brother has... casually mentioned the fight with the spider kunoichi a great many times. I am so eager to hear what adventures next befell you three... and of course, poor Mizako."_

 _The storyteller looked away from his burning stare. The Guardian of the Walls had always made her uncomfortable. There was something very cold and standoffish about the man, but what had ratcheted up her discomfort lately was that he seemed to be taking a particular interest in her and her brothers._

 _The storyteller paused, biting her lip and shaking her head. "I was unable to oppose her at this point in time. For Tamago, to me... he was a known physical threat. He had hurt me before, tormented my brothers and I. He was sadistic and cruel, but his torments were of the natural sort… Majo-sama… Majo-sama was on a whole different level."_


	14. Chapter 14

_I tried to oppose her, honestly I did, but as she just stood there, silently waiting for me, my resolve faltered… My hands started shaking… And I lowered them._

 _There was the discordant jangle of bells as Majo took a step closer. "No? You would refuse me?" She reached out for me with one hand. "What foolishness have these two fools been filling your poor little head with?" She reached out for me with one hand. I tried to pull away but there was another masked shinobi behind me, blocking my retreat. I squeezed my eyes tight and whimpered._

 _My heart almost stopped from pure fear as she touched me once on the shoulder. I waited for the pain to come, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes a crack and was relieved to see my arm still there. "I'll not ask you again child." Her voice was brittlely cheerful and carried the threat of punishment. Once again, I shook my head, my eyes fixed on Mizako._

 _Majo-sama's mask turned slowly as she followed my gaze. She glanced back at me once and I could feel the cool amusement in her stare. Majo-sama raised her left hand. Her index, middle and ring fingers were alight with dancing purple flames._

 _I was trembling as once again there was the ringing of a hundred tiny bells as she lifted her head to look at me. Then her arm shot forward._

 _Straight to Mizako's forehead. The braided woman gave a muffled shriek and went limp. Majo's mask moved closer so it was almost touching my nose. "If you won't run for your own sake," she hissed in a conspiratorial whisper, "perhaps you will run for hers?"_

 _Branded in the middle of Mizako's forehead was a black shadow of a spider with a bright orange hourglass on its back, sitting in the middle of a web. As I watched, the picture of the arachnid moved in its web seal. It rotated with every heartbeat, just like the hands on a clock. Then when the spider's head was in the 'noon' position, its head seemed to bob up and down, miming a bite. The moment this happened, Mizako let out a muffled groan and started to convulse. I tried to go to her but was stopped by the masked man holding me. "She's not badly hurt… not yet anyway," said Majo. "This particular seal gradually injects its venom into the victim… a normal adult could last for a few hours." She chuckled and the threads holding Mizako upright gave her a little shake. "Of course, I would hardly call this pathetic midget an 'adult'... Don't you feel like finding Ay-san now?" she asked leaning forward again. "If you need more convincing… I could always ask one of my pets to... play with you for a little bit…" She loosened the neckline of her robe. The ink of the seals covering her body hung there, twisting and curling with a dark oily malevolence._

 _She ran her fingertips along a design that flowed along her collarbone and ended in a oval whorl. She grunted once and the seal sparked with a bright purple glow. A cloud of black smoke erupted from the seal and condensed into a spider about the size of a horse. It loomed over me, showed me its drooling fangs, and hissed._

 _It was too much for me… I ran. I ran as fast and as hard as I could, shifting from two legs to four in the process. I galloped through the trees, wide eyed from the terror that was fueling my flight. Thin branches of forest scrub whipped me across my nose and ears. I ignored the stinging pain and sped through the snow, always sniffing the air trying to catch wind of either Ay or my brothers._

 _The mists faded and sound returned to the world, the crunch of ice under my paws, the occasional warning twitter of a bird, as I crashed through the underbrush. I found a spot where Kyo had stopped to mark a tree and knew I was on the right trail. I shifted back up to two legs and started yelling as I ran, "Ay-sensei! Yuki! Kyo!" There was an answering shout from Kyo, and I turned in that direction. I found and followed their footprints in the snow. They cut through a large clearing into a thick stand of trees and then suddenly vanished._

" _I collapsed on my knees almost in tears, struggling to catch my breath "Yuki!" I wheezed out, "Kyo… Ay…"_

 _There was a creak from the trees above me and I looked up. Ay was hanging upside down from a tree branch with his feet, my two brothers in his arms. Seeing the look of relief on my face, he released his chakra and flipped down to an upright position. "Tohru," he said in a rumble, scanning the forest. "Are you hurt? Where is Mizako?"_

 _I practically collapsed against him and sobbed out my story. His face grew as hard as stone as I told him the news of Mizako's capture. "But you still managed to escape them," he said giving me a reassuring pat. "Brave girl." He saw me look away guiltily. "What is it Tohru?" he asked._

" _I didn't… quite escape Ay-sensei… Majo-sama told me to run," I muttered in an ashamed voice._

" _She what?" asked Ay in a worried tone, quickly looking around the clearing._

" _And you just left Mizako there?" snapped Kyo. "You… you scaredy cat!"_

" _She said she was going to let her spiders 'play' with me if I didn't run! She said I had to find you!" I wailed._

" _Calm down Torhu… Did she touch you at all?" Ay asked anxiously._

" _Touch me? She poked me once on the arm but…"_

" _Take off your coat… Now!" Ay barked, when I hesitated._

" _What is it Ay-sensei?" asked Yuki as I scrambled to get my layers off._

" _That woman, Majo. Every major attack she has used was related to a sealing jutsu. If she lay her hands on you, chances are she left something behind." He sucked in a breath as I pulled over my collar. We all stared._

 _There was something written in a curly, dark flowing, script across my upper arm. "Yuki," Ay rumbled, "get this thing off her… now!"_

 _There was a loud crackling noise as my brother's fingers sprouted claws. I shivered as he started to pick away at the seal. "What is it?" I whispered. "Am I going to die?"_

" _No Tohru." Ay shook his head, but the frown of worry never left his face. "But I have seen a seal like this before… on the kunai of Mizako's brother. It's the mark for a transportation jutsu. I will bet… she wanted you to run so she could track you back to us."_

 _I felt horrible. "I'm sorry Ay-sensei," I said with a sniff._

 _Ay waved his hand dismissively and turned to Yuki. "Can you remove it?" he asked in a tense voice._

" _Yes, Ay-sensei. It will just take a bit of time."_

" _Please hurry, we don't want to get caught when…" He stopped abruptly when he saw me squirm. "What is it Tohru?"_

" _It's nothing Ay-sama, the mark just felt all tingly for a…" Four things happened in quick succession. First, Ay swore loudly. Second, his aura blazed up, tinged with bluish white electrical arcs. Third, he snatched up the three of us and started to run._

 _The storyteller took a deep breath. "Fourth, there was a deafening roar of displaced air. The shockwave threw Ay off his feet, but he managed to hold on tight to my brothers and me as he fell. Five giant spiders came crashing down into the half frozen ground. Four of them were merely huge, the size of horses, like the one Majo showed me before. Riding across each of their backs was a pair of the faceless shinobi."_

 _The fifth spider was alike in size and shape to the gargantuan demon we fought days ago. It looked down at us and hissed as we tumbled about in the snow. Majo-sama leaned over and gave the monstrous arachnid a loving pat on its head. "Hello Ay-san," she purred. "I told you we would meet again."_

 _Their footsteps thundering on the ground, the four smaller spiders spaced themselves around us in a rough circle. Masked shinobi began hopping off their backs, filling in the spaces of the group. "I must admit though, I had planned for our meeting would be much sooner than this," said Majo in a conversational tone. "My little pet was supposed to grow inside of you until you were a broken, paralyzed mess… and then come and fetch me for the final blow." She laughed, a surprisingly cheerful sound. "You are just full of surprises. Would you care to tell me how you stopped the jutsu?" Ay looked up and I could see a flicker of despair flash over his face. He was healthier than he had been, that much was true, but he was nowhere near ready to face this many adversaries._

 _Ay stood, pushing the three of us behind him, trying to place himself between us and the spiders as best he could. "Yuki," he muttered out of the corner of his mouth, "Get that seal off of Tohru and run… don't look back."_

" _Oh, I wouldn't go telling them to run away just yet Ay-san," said Majo in a teasing voice. "You haven't heard my proposal for a prisoner trade." A long tendril of shadow bobbed up from Majo's back, dangling a heavily bound, seemingly unconscious Mizako before us._

 _Ay's eyes flicked to Mizako once. "Trade? Why would I trade for a girl from Konoha?," he asked stonily, but I could smell the ripple of anxiety that coursed over him._

" _No? Oh deary me… and here I was with the impression that this miniature kunoichi actually meant something to you." Majo slid down off the back of the spider and folded her arms. "Shall we test the truthfulness of your statement? Tamago here has been quite obsessed with the girl ever since she injured him." Acting on her cue, Tamago appeared behind Mizako. He wrapped one arm around where her waist should be and rested his head on her shoulder. His other hand teased out one of her braids. Majo tilted her head and seemed to stare at the knight. "Shall I hand her over to his warm embrace? I'm sure he could make her scream... louder than you ever did," she said in a taunting way._

 _Every muscle in Ay's shoulders and back bunched, like a great tiger getting ready to pounce. "You'll have to kill me first," he said in a growl of cold certainty._

" _Ah... so that's all it takes to get the legendary Ay to lose his composure," replied Majo in a self satisfied voice. "Do I need to ask if you realize what I'm asking for in exchange for the Namikaze girl?"_

 _There was a long pause as Ay sucked in a long hissing breath. Yuki worked his claws around the last of the seal and it came loose from my skin with a pop and disintegrated in a small shower of ink. My brother glanced up at Ay and then looked at Kyo and me. "Ay-sensei, we are outnumbered and overpowered… We are lacking in options," my brother said in a whisper. "I don't see anything we can do except withdraw."_

 _Ay looked back and forth between us, Mizako and the enemy. "Yuki," Ay rumbled quietly, "you are now in charge. I will create an opening, and you will lead Kyo and Tohru to safety."_

 _I stared up at Ay. "And… what will you be doing Ay-sensei?" I was already awash in guilt over abandoning Mizako, I could not think about abandoning Ay too._

 _Ay lowered his hand to my head and ruffled my hair. "I will follow you... once I have rescued Mizako of course," he said, with false surety._

" _Screw that, your plan blows," growled Kyo, vibrating with indignation. "You try to and rescue Mizako by your lonesome and you're going to end up spider food… You need backup sensei… I'm coming with you." He stepped up next to the Kumo shinobi glaring defiance at the masked men._

" _You think you're going to give him backup?!" asked Yuki incredulously. "What do you think you can accomplish against a woman who summons and controls giant spiders? At best, you'll only be in the way!"_

" _At least I'm trying to do something other than run away, you pussy!" Kyo muttered angrily, before turning to Ay. "Let's go sensei, we can totally kick their asses."_

" _Enough," Ay hissed. "My orders are not up for debate. The three of you will… Tohru? Where are you going?"_

 _Yuki's phrase, "What do you think you can accomplish against a woman who summons and controls giant spiders?" had sparked an idea in my mind. I stared down at my fingertips and then clenched my hand into a fist. It was a foolhardy plan. It was a dangerous plan... But I was determined not to run away and leave Mizako behind a second time._

 _I stepped out of our impromptu huddle and walked slowly around Ay. I turned and faced Majo-sama. "Do you promise not to hurt Mizako-sama or Ay-sama if we go back to you?" I asked the spider woman in a wavering voice._

 _There was a moment of stunned silence. "Tohru stop!" barked Ay reaching out to grab my arm and yank me back._

" _I am sorry Ay-sama," I said as unfalteringly as I could, gently pushing his hand away. "But I will not stop. There is nothing that you can do here. This battle is finished before it has even begun… You are outnumbered and overpowered. Last time you got lucky, but right now, each of us can see that the situation we are in is hopeless… Majo-sama and her sealing jutsu are simply too powerful for someone like you." I took a deep breath and bowed to Ay. It took Yuki a moment to figure out what I was suggesting, but then his eyes widened in shock. He quickly bowed too. Kyo just stared at us, confused, until Yuki pulled him into a bowing position as well. "We would like to thank you and Mizako-sama for all the help you have given to three... very troublesome children," I said in my most formal voice. "But now... it is time for us to help the two of you… in the only way we are able… after all that is only fair." I paused and quickly shot a pointed look up at Ay. "We shall always remember everything you taught us," I said simply, hoping that he understood._

 _Ay looked down at us, at Majo, at Mizako, at the surrounding spiders and shinobi, and then back to us. His face was like stone, but you could see in his eyes how he hated this situation. He nodded once. "Tohru… You're in command."_

 _I put a hand on both my brothers' shoulders. "Both of you, follow my lead… Yuki, when the time comes, you help Mizako. She has a seal on her forehead. Kyo, you come with me," I muttered out of the side of my mouth. "We three will create the opening."_

 _Kyo gave Yuki and Ay a stunned glance and then stared at me, his face slowly breaking into a grin. He couldn't believe what I was suggesting. "You are out of your fucking mind," he eagerly hissed under his breath. My head was awhirl with fear as the three of us stood, turned on our heels and began the long march to Majo-sama._

 _It didn't feel real. What we were doing couldn't possibly be real. What we were going to try to do was… well it was madness. It was madness, but we were doing it for Ay… and Mizako. I started whispering to myself as we approached the masked men… the first lesson Ay-sensei ever taught me. "Fear is the first enemy a shinobi must overcome… Fear is the first enemy a shinobi must overcome…" I repeated over and over under my breath._

 _I shivered as we passed through the ring of giant spiders which turned and spat at us. I did my best to ignore the masked men and the cold, sharp air of violence that each of them were giving off. Hardest of all was for me to approach Majo-sama. The dank, sour smell of corruption was all around her. I stopped in front of Majo-sama, my palms wet with cold sweat. "You have us back Majo-sama," I said, bowing my head. "Would you please be so good as to free Mizako now?"_

" _You do not presume to order me, child," Majo said in a cold imperious voice. There was a jangling sound as she reached inside her robes and pulled out three collars. "The three of you, raise your chins," she ordered, leaning forward._

 _It was now or never. If we permitted ourselves to be collared once again, we were truly finished._

 _I had been hiding my clawed hands behind my back this whole time. As Majo-sama took a step closer to us, I raked her with a vicious swipe, not just trying to damage her flesh, but to dig into the seals which covered nearly every square centimeter of skin._

 _I wasn't trying to fight fair… I was trying to win._

 _The effect was almost instantaneous. Majo screeched and convulsed as various pent up energies were released in small violet arcing flashes. The hairs on my neck stood up at this release of chakra. This was not the orderly release of spiritual energy for a jutsu, but something wild and untamed, like a storm._

 _Majo was spinning around aiming a kick at my head, when a half-transformed Kyo landed on her back and started pulling away with claws and fangs. There was another flashy, fireworks like display of released chakra and the world went mad._

 _Two of the 'smaller' spiders jumped in a confused way as if finally noticing their surroundings and arched their front legs at each other, hissing and snarling in an aggressive display. A third snatched up a masked shinobi and sank its fangs into him again and again as he screamed, his struggling growing ever weaker as the arachnid bound him in black silk. The remaining smaller spider collapsed to the ground in a convulsing twitching mass, crushing one of the faceless shinobi beneath it. The enormous spider leapt on top of the twitching arachnid and began tearing huge chunks out of it, dissolving them with an acrid bubbling liquid and greedily sucking the resulting mash into its mouth. There was the stink of ozone and bright streaks of light as Ay flashed back and forth, striking blows at spiders and shinobi alike. Screams of battle and fear and pain echoed through the clearing as the monsters turned on their allies and on each other. One of the Masked shinobi charged at Kyo, hoping to pull him from Majo-sama's back. There was a crackle of electricity and the man went flying in a crumpled mess, blasted by the force of Ay's lariat._

 _All through this, Mizako dangled from a tendril snaking out from under Majo-sama's robe. A feint from Kyo allowed me an opportunity to sink my claws and fangs into Majo's leg, and the masked woman stumbled. Mizako dipped within reach and Yuki saw his chance._

 _He leapt through the air and snagged the shadow rope with his teeth. He told me later it tasted horrible but he held on tight as he brought it down to the ground and shredded it with his claws. He then quickly shifted back to two legs and tried his best to drag the still groggy Mizako out of the way of the fighting._

 _My brother Kyo and I continued the battle with Majo. We let ourselves go, becoming wild feral things. Biting and clawing, drawing blood and releasing pent up chakra from Majo's body with almost every blow. She was completely helpless before us. She could barely move as we darted in and around her, pulling and cutting at the seals all over her body. It was a wonderful feeling… It felt like victory was within our grasp._

* * *

" _Yet when your brother Yuki tells this tale it is the Mizako woman who wins the day," the Guardian interrupted again in a conversational voice, ignoring the affronted look his mate gave him. "What happened?"_

 _The storyteller tried not to show her annoyance at the interruption. "What happened was Tamago… While Ay was busy elsewhere, the masked shinobi managed to dart in and pull the both of us off of Majo-sama. We tried our best to attack him as well, but Kyo and I had the same luck hitting him that I did before. That pause in our assault gave Majo enough time to regain control of her spiders… of course by that time, only two of the smaller ones and the enormous one were left, but together they were more than enough to require all of Ay's attention." The storyteller sighed. "This in turn allowed more of the masked shinobi to come to Majo-sama's aid… My brother Kyo and I were quickly subdued. Yuki tried to come to assist us and was pummeled into submission."_

" _Majo-sama slowly got to her feet and she was furious. I could smell rage pouring off of her in waves. 'Hold them down!' she snarled to three of her men. Then she whirled and pointed an accusing finger at the remainder. 'Grab that stinking bastard from Kumo and drag him over here! I want these three to watch while he and that Namikaze bitch die slowly!"_

 _The storyteller leaned forward. The light from the fire was almost gone. Just a few glowing coals remained. The shadows and light made her face look dark and alien. "That whole time before… when she was transporting us, Majo was angry, but it was a containable anger, a resentment at her superiors. An anger built up from the annoyance from having to waste her time walking alongside a cage full of sniveling whiny brats. That was the reason why she hadn't been with our cart when Kakashi and Kira had appeared... she had sent us on ahead while she did more 'important things'. This time her rage wasn't tinged with disdain. It was a fiery palpable thing, hanging oppressively in the air. This time we had gone too far… we were going to be punished, and harshly... but this time I didn't care."_

" _I shifted back and forth, three or four times in quick succession. It threw off the grip of the shinobi holding me down. As a lion cub, I was able to twist around and hook the edge of his mask with my right claws. When it came loose, I used my left paw to rake him across the eyes. He fell back, clutching his face. And I… I leapt at Majo-sama again._

" _She was ready for me this time. One tentacle smacked me out of the air while the other wrapped tightly around my neck. 'You know,' Majo said in a glacial voice, 'I'm beginning to think that you in particular are more trouble than you're worth. Perhaps your two brothers will behave better if I make an example out of you as well. I'm sure it won't be too much of a problem if I lose one third of the cargo.' Majo squeezed."_

 _The storyteller pulled at the neckline of her dress. An old faded scar could be seen creased around her throat. "I heard both Yuki and Kyo screaming out my name, calling out for Ay, cursing at our captors. I tried the same trick I had before, shifting back and forth between two feet and four, trying to slip loose, but the shadow rope only grew tighter. The world started to go red… and then black… there was a fierce roaring in my ears…"_

" _Weren't you… scared?" asked the green eyed girl cub, chewing anxiously on her thumb._

 _The storyteller smiled a sad smile. "A little… But I was also…" she paused searching for the right word, "At peace, I guess? I had done what I could for my family. Yuki and Kyo and Mizako and Ay… but this was going to be the end of me."_

" _Yet clearly it wasn't," said the Guardian of the walls in that unflappable voice of his, pulling his daughter's thumb out of her mouth with a barely audible pop. "You obviously are still here among the land of the living… How did you escape?"_

 _The storyteller gave him a very satisfied look. "With fortitude… luck, courage… and fire."_

" _Fire?" asked the Guardian of the walls._

" _Fire," said the storyteller in a voice full of relish. "I was unconscious at the time... so this is Yuki's description of what happened. He said there was a bright flash of flame that snapped Majo-sama's tentacle in twain. I fell, splat on the ground. Both he and Kyo thought I was dead and screamed at me to get up or move or... something... Anything."_

" _The sound of footsteps made them turn. Mizako stood there, wobbling slightly, but her eyes were gleaming bright with emotion and power." The storyteller shifted uncomfortably. "These days Yuki will protest that… he doesn't remember telling me this, but at the time he said: 'For just a moment it looked like… something else was using her eyes… something knowing and ancient... powerful and hating. Then she blinked and she was herself again."_

" _Both Yuki and Kyo agree that the snow was melting in sheets around her feet as if it was kissed by a bonfire. The very air sizzled as Mizako walked forward. 'Get away from her you… you vermin!" she snarled."_


	15. Chapter 15

Mizako was feeling woozy. She could feel the whole earth tilting and rolling underneath her. She felt like she had to dig her fingers into the slushy ground to keep from sliding off. She tried to remember what had happened but things were… fuzzy… blurry. Her mind wasn't working right. Like that time when she was eight and she had been out fishing with Jiraiya-sensei… and she had been so thirsty that while he was napping she had snuck his canteen away from him and taken a huge drink… only to discover that the legendary sannin had packed something considerably stronger than water on this trip.

And that woman who was shouting next to her… snarling out taunts and insults... it was making her already nauseating headache even worse. She was important somehow, that much she could remember. She'd said something to her earlier… what was it now?

"Can you figure it out Mizako-chan? Why I let that little pest go? She's going to lead me right back to her two brothers and your friend Ay-san. It's the fastest way to find them all really." The voice sighed. "I can't believe how much trouble this mission has been… It was all supposed to be so simple. Oh well, at least with the death of the Raikage's heir, we'll be able to deal a significant blow to Kumo… This won't have been a complete waste of my time." The memory was dancing around in her head and almost slipped away. Mizako struggled. She knew she could remember it.

The voice had then laughed. "Oh my goodness, don't fret so… we'll be bringing you along too. You'll get your chance to say a proper goodbye." Mizako thought she was trying to shout something back at the woman, but then a painful icy pulse flooded through her head making her feel sick again. Right before she passed out, there was a shadow as the woman leaned closer to her. "And then you'll be joining him in the afterlife," a voice whispered. "If our pathetic excuse for Hokage finds his precious sister dead at the hands of the Raikage's son, maybe he will finally have the courage to go to war instead of bleeding us white with all these endless treaties and concessions."

Ah yes… she remembered who it was now. The masked kunoichi… the one with all the seals. Tohru had told her the kunoichi's name. It began with an 'M' sound… Majo… that was it. This small victory, as meagre as it was, bought Mizako a momentary feeling of triumph, right before it was swept away by another wave of icy agony.

While Mizako was unconscious, there had been the sensation of a lot of motion, but with all the vertigo she was feeling it was tough to tell if it was real or not. She remembered a shock as she hit the ground and then she was dragged. Someone sat her up and began picking at her forehead. There was a moment of searing pain and she must have blacked out for a second or two…

And suddenly she was... somewhere else. The pain in her head instantly evaporated. She was standing on a resilient black ground, scattered with billions of tiny grains of sand, each one glowing bright like a star, swirling in huge galactic clusters There was no sun present, all light came from the sky which was glowing a bright unnatural blue. She could hear the ocean, but it was far away, like the sound you get when you put your ear to a seashell. The wind in this place was warm and humid, blowing first one way and then the next. There was a salty odor permeating everything, blended with a musky fishy scent… and there was something else too… a low musical piping sound, like what you would hear when you put your ear to a door and someone was playing a flute on the other side... and as alien and bizarre as this place was, as otherworldly beautiful as this landscape seemed… she felt like she should have known it.

Mizako winced as she reached for the scar on her chest, gently prodding it. The old wound was burning, feeling much more hot and itchy than it ever had in the past. When she poked at it particularly hard, she thought she could feel something, hidden deep underneath the knot of twisted flesh, twitching against her fingertip... Twitching like a muscle just starting to cramp up.

The pulsing sensation on her finger brought everything into sharp focus. The piping sound wasn't music… it was words. Long muttering angry phrases full of resentment and disgust. "... noisy vermin… Like a disease… Should crush them all under my hooves…"

Someone called her name. Mizako shook herself awake, the strange dream fading away. Her head was pounding again, and the sun was too bright for her eyes, but she still recognized the boy in front of her. "Yuki," she said weakly. "What… What…" A wave of dizziness made Mizako's stomach roil and she had to close her eyes for a second before she was sick. "What happened?" she managed to ask in a confused voice.

"It's okay Mizako-sama," the boy said with a weak grin, crushing something between his claws. "You're safe now, Tohru came up with a plan to rescue you!"

"Yuki!" called Kyo's voice as he went skidding into the snow. "Get your butt over here!"

"Sorry Mizako-sama, I have to go. Just… stay next to the tree, and uh… I'll be right back." There was a crackle of bone as he started to shift. "It'th our turn to thave you Mizako-thama," he lisped between teeth that were lengthening into fangs." The lion cub nudged her once with his forehead and loped off.

There was a fight going on. She had seen it, she had been watching it, but the images hadn't registered in her brain until now. Two of the cubs had been attacking the masked kunoichi and had actually managed to wound her. It looked like the fight might actually be going in the cubs favor. The sight filled her with a distant but fierce pride as the three children lept into the fray again and again, staining the snow red with the blood of their enemy.

But they were no match for fully trained shinobi. It seemed to her that she had just blinked, and then the cubs were suddenly caught in the arms of the faceless men. The masked kunoichi gave orders for the cubs to be forced on the ground, as Mizako watched, her swimming brain still unable to completely comprehend what was happening.

Majo kept bellowing at her subordinates."Hold them down!" she snarled to her men, ignoring the blood spilling from her wounds, digging fingers into her flesh to repair damaged sealing jutsu. "Find that stinking bastard from Kumo and drag him over here! I want these three to watch while he and that Namikaze bitch die slowly!"

Mizako heard Tohru shriek. She squirmed, flashing back and forth between lion cub and little girl, punching and kicking and scratching and biting, until with a yowl, she managed to escaped her captor and charged at the masked woman a second time.

Tohru was caught. The spider kunoichi was strangling her with one of those long ropy tentacles that sprang out from under her robes. Kyo and Yuki were shouting and screaming. Tohru slowly twisted and turned on the end of that midnight appendage, her face turning a dark purplish red. As her rotation brought her to face Mizako, the young girl's hands reached out for her. Tohru's mouth opened and closed twice... two soundless syllables that caused a breathless tearing sensation deep in Mizako's heart.

"Mama," was what Mizako lipread.

Somehow she was on her feet. The world swayed drunkenly around her, but she was up, her gaze locked on the small silhouette who was struggling more and more feebly with every passing second. First she took one stumbling step and then another, towards Tohru and the kunoichi that was choking her. Finding her strength in the memory of those two syllables, in the enormous tsunami of raw emotion that had crashed through her heart when the young girl had reached out for her, she struggled across the ice and snow. Mizako managed to make it to about ten meters from the masked woman was standing. She fumbled through her handsigns, trying to gather her chakra, but the fireball jutsu sputtered and failed.

Mizako shook her head and tried again. Ox, monkey, snake, horse, tiger… she went slowly this time… slow enough that a genin fresh out of the academy could probably make the hand signs faster than her, but again when she tried to focus her chakra, something went wrong. She just couldn't stabilize it. Frustrated, she started to make the hand seals a third time… And collapsed as someone kneed her in the back. She saw flashes of light explode across her vision as her head bounced against the turf, and the world tilted upside down one more time…

* * *

Ay swung the masked shinobi around twice more in a great circle. His father would certainly chastise him if he saw him using this move. The Raikage openly despised this sort of fighting style that was overly flashy, was made to impress an audience, and had very little chance to put an opponent down.

Ay however, was finding the 'giant's swing' to be quite useful in this particular situation. Firstly, picking up an opponent by his ankles and spinning him around in a circle meant none of the other masked shinobi could engage him in close combat, Secondly, because he was effectively holding one of their comrades hostage, they were also reluctant to attacking him with ranged weapons or jutsu, which was much appreciated on his part. Being flat on his back for a week had wreaked his training regimen and his stamina. Ay really needed the break right now. Third and finally, he was using the giant's swing because he wanted to test a hypothesis.

He let go of the luckless man's ankles and the masked shinobi went sailing through the air in a flat arc, crashing into the one of the smaller spiders. The arachnid stumbled slightly and hissed, but it let the man stand and dust himself off unmolested.

Ay swore and wiped sweat from his brow. The spiders weren't acting like wild beasts anymore, they were obeying orders again. He risked a glance over to the other end of the clearing, back to where the sealing witch and the cubs had been fighting. It was hard to see exactly what was happening. He was almost positive he saw the silhouette of a cub charging at the masked kunoichi, but the battle itself was definitely calmer now… less frantic… another bad sign.

He entered a ready crouch as the shinobi and spiders circled around him, looking for an opening. He should have known it wouldn't stay in his favor. All he had to do was fight the occasional faceless shinobi and make sure he kept clear of the spiders which were attacking anything that moved. It had been child's play to dive into a milling group of shinobi, strike a few blows and then dart away again, as the arachnids swarmed in, attracted by the chaos.

And then a few moments ago, the spiders seemed to lose all interest in the enemy… and began coordinating their movements, hunting him. Two of the spiders had tried to keep his attention focused by launching a frontal attack, while a third snuck around behind him, trying to flank him. Ay spun, glaring at a masked shinobi that had started to approach in his blind spot. The man stopped in his advance, but didn't retreat. As he watched this one shinobi, he could hear the footsteps of others approaching behind him.

Ay wanted so badly to abandon this section of the clearing and go back and check on Mizako and the cubs, to see if they needed any assistance, like before when he had lariated that masked man… but if he did that, there was nothing to keep the attention of all these remaining shinobi and spiders. If he left to help the cubs, the monsters would certainly follow him. Here, alone, in this part of the clearing, he could protect himself from these attackers… Could he protect himself, three cubs, and Mizako? He wasn't so sure…

The sunlight was blotted out by a sudden shadow above him. Ay's lighting armor flared and he blazed off to the left, just in time to get out of the way of the huge arachnid that came crashing down. "Great," Ay muttered sarcastically under his breath. "Her spiders can jump too… How wonderful."

He quickly took another longing look to the other end of the clearing. If he could thin the odds against him somewhat, then he could take a chance and head back… but right now? There was no way he could risk leading all these horrors back to three children and an unconscious Mizako… That would just serve to put them in more danger than they, no doubt, already were.

He activated his armor again, zigzagging across the field, dodging flying shuriken and a second pouncing spider. He hated this decision, it made him feel sick to his stomach, but he didn't see anything else he could do other than continue to lure the majority of the enemies away. He'd just have to hope and pray that the cubs could take care of themselves and Mizako for just a few moments longer.

* * *

Once again, all the pain and dizziness in Mizako's head had vanished. She opened her eyes and was back in the dream of lying on an inky blackness speckled with stars. Mizako rolled over and looked up. A burning blue sky shone balefully down on her.

The piping was louder now, ringing in her ears. Her scar was thumping powerfully and rhythmically, like a second heartbeat just above hers, rubbing her nerves raw. She pressed her hands up against the wound to stop some of the pain, and once again, the moment she touched it, words and meaning became clear in the song. "Pain… Fear… Sadness," said the whistling voice leaving harsh dissonant echoes crashing in her mind. "Why do you feel these? They are nothing… a disease!"

Mizako shook her head. "Okay… This isn't real. This can't be real. It's just a hallucination… or maybe some kind of a genjutsu... I need to snap out of this… I have to wake up right now… Tohru needs me," she muttered to herself.

"No waking up!" The words fluted through the air. "Answer the question! Why do you feel these?"

"I just said why!" Mizako insisted, feeling slightly crazy that she was arguing with herself. "Tohru needs me!" She rose to her knees. "I have to wake up so I can help her!" That voice… It was so otherworldly… so alien… why did she feel like she should recognize it?

"Tohru?" sniffed the piping voice curiously. The scar in her chest grew searingly hot and there was a forceful pressure behind her eyes that made her whimper. A picture of Tohru formed in her head. "Vermin!" the voice pronounced with all the vehemence of a vengeful Kushina having spotted a cockroach in her kitchen .

"She is not!" Mizako yelled back. "She's a little girl! She needs help! I have to help her!"

There was a brief silence. "Why?" came the direful song.

"This is stupid!" exclaimed Mizako, pinching herself in the hope that it would make her wake up. It didn't. "I can't waste time arguing with myself."

"WHY?" The command was so loud it rolled through the sky like thunder.

It seemed to pick Mizako up and turn her inside out. Inside the dream she fell to her knees clutching her head. Her mouth answered without giving her mind a chance to think about it. "Because I love her!" she blurted out.

There was another pause, much longer this time. "Love?" the voice piped in an unsure way. "Show me."

Mizako rubbed her head and groaned. "I... can't.. Love is a... feeling. But it's not exactly one specific feeling… It's something that happens when…"

"SHOW ME!" Again there was a fierce prodding behind her eyes. Images flashed through her mind: Her brother, her mother and father, Kushina, Jiraiya, Kakashi, her friends, her classmates… the storm of people began to wind down, slowing to view Yuki and Kyo. Tohru rose to the forefront of her mind, that deep pulling tug that twisted her heart when she reached out for her, calling for her mother… The last one she saw was Ay. His strong face floated in front of her eyes for a handful of seconds before dissolving into a mad kaleidoscope of images and words and feelings. His smile, the feel of his hand on the small of her back, the way his lips tasted, they way her stomach felt all warm and fluttery every time he called her 'kitten'.

The light grew dim. Mizako glanced up to see two enormous hemispheres of night close over the glowing sky, as if the heavenly vault was the eye of some gigantic creature which had just blinked. There was a high pitched piping sound. "You would fight... for them?" The voice asked as if it was remembering something long forgotten, an inkling of what it was to have ties to others.

"Yes," Mizako said firmly. "Protect them."

"Show me."

* * *

Rough hands grabbed her braids and pulled her up to her knees. "Oh no you don't princess," growled a masked shinobi in a harsh voice. "We can't be having none of that." Mizako struck out at the faceless man but she was slow… so slow. The dizziness was falling on her in huge waves. He laughed as he contemptuously knocked her hand away and hauled her up to her feet, sending an electric jolt of pain through her scalp as he ripped some of her hair loose. "You'd better start thinking about being nicer to us girl… There's talk that Majo-sama is thinking you should appear 'well used'... as an added bit of incentive for your brother to restart the war against Kumo… We could make it quick, or we could make it drawn out and oh so painful. And it's nothing a traitorous whore like you wouldn't deserve." The masked man's sour breath was hot on the back of her neck. "I'm thinking we should see how long we can keep squealing and squirming for us before we slit your throat, you Kumo slut! I'm thinking we should give you taste of what it's like to lie with a real man, a Leaf shinobi before you die!" Mizako tried to kick him this time, she managed to drive a heel down into his instep. The faceless man swore loudly and slammed something heavy across the back of her skull.

* * *

Blue sky hovering over a landscape of night. "Unimpressed," sang the trumpeting notes.

Mizako collapsed on the ground… dumbfounded. That masked man… he… he had just admitted he was from Konoha! She had... suspected that they were, there were just too many coincidences, but she was holding out hope that they were just rogues, or outcasts or had stolen the clan jutsus of the Hidden Leaf, or something…

"Weak… very very weak," the voice sounded out, full of gleeful contempt, as if it had been expecting her to fail.

Mizako closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. Gods, Ay was right… this was a mission. This was a mission from Konoha. And if it was a mission from Konoha, then her brother… Her brother gave the order... and if he gave the order to take three children and cage them and ship them then… Her mind abruptly turned away from that line of logic. It was too much for her brain to contemplate. "He… he was talking about starting a war," she said, believing that if she spoke the words out loud, that would help make them true. "He was talking about… doing horrible things to me… Minato onisan would never do that!"

"He is strong… you are weak," trumpeted the song. "Way of the universe… If you don't want to be crushed like vermin… or see Tohru crushed like vermin… you should be strong!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" Mizako screamed. "I'm hurt! I'm sick, I'm tired, I'm almost out of chakra…" She glared up at the sky almost irrational with the whole surreal nature of this conversation by this point. "If you want to see what I can do, maybe you should help!"

"Excuses," snorted the voice. "You have the power. You choose not to use it."

"What?" asked Mizako.

"You have power," repeated the voice. "You choose not to use it... Weak useless vermin, " the lilting tones echoed about taunting her

Mizako hesitated. When she was but a child, her brother, Kushina, Jiraiya and several of her teachers had often commented how she seemed to have a vast reservoir of chakra inside of her… the problem was she always had issues maintaining her chakra balance. During her years in the academy, it either came out in a huge jolt, or not at all. This lead to so many training disasters and far too many stays in Konoha hospital.

Back in those days, every time she awoke in a hospital bed, Minato would soon be at her side giving her yet another lecture about how she shouldn't push herself, how she needed to be careful, how her body didn't have anywhere near the stamina or resilience of his! So taking her brother's advice to heart, and following his teaching, she learned to wall off her chakra… using only small manageable dribbles at a time.

"I am holding… some of it back," she admitted slowly. "But it's necessary. I have to do it that way because…"

"Excuses!" sneered the voice in a hurricane of musical sound. "Do you... 'love' these beings?"

"Yes!" insisted Mizako again, "But…"

She gasped. A wall of raw chakra had slammed across her back without any notice pinning her, face down, on the starry ground. A warm moist wind began to blow over her like a great bellows. "No more excuses," trumpeted the voice, "No more talking… I want to see."

Mizako felt an icy chill that started at her scar and slowly began to spread through her torso. Soon, it felt like an icicle the size of a sword had been plunged into her chest. When she first felt it move, she cried out from the shock of it. It began to wriggle, digging ever deeper down inside of herself, finding the well she kept so carefully hidden inside of herself, cracking open the gates and locks she always envisioned being there, keeping her chakra flow restricted.

This alien presence curled round and round at the bottom of that well, right at the base of the huge bulwark she had constructed to hold back her own chakra. "Now… You will show me… show me what this 'love' can do!" sang the voice in a series of eager notes. The cold charka reached around that barrier, this dam that had taken her years to create, and tore it away as if it was nothing.

Mizako shrieked. Raw energy crackled through her body, crashed at her skin and bounced back, coursing again through her insides. A raging tempest of chakra that threatened to burn her from within. She felt as if she could see it coursing through her skin, flickering and dancing as it coursed along her muscles and nerves.

It hurt so much. Every last centimeter of her screamed for cold and dark to put out the fire inside of her. She couldn't hold it, she could feel it all slipping out of control. She was going burst like a rotten apple falling from a tree. She would incinerate, like a moth flying too close to a candle flame.

"SHOW ME!" commanded the voice again, a deep resonant tone that cracked the ground and shook her insides. It was an injunction that went past her ears and straight into her brain. An order that imprinted itself in her mind. She closed her eyes tight and hugged herself tighter for protection against the roar.

* * *

When she opened her eyes again, she was lying on her back on the damp ground, the sounds of battle around her. Yuki and Kyo were still yelling, calling for her, for Ay, for anyone to come and help Tohru. Tears were running down her cheeks, the pain from the chakra flooding her body was killing her. The fire she had never feared until now was eating her alive, like molten lava in her veins, burning her.

It took her a moment to realize there was another sensation, something so remote compared to every other sensation she was feeling that seemed to come from a thousand kilometers away. Someone was on top of her, fumbling with her clothes.

Mizako looked up. A shinobi with one of those blank masks was astride her. Holding her down. "Good, you're awake!" he said, "It won't be as much fun if you don't struggle a little." Weakly, she raised one arm and tried to shove him off her with a hand to his chest.

A burning avalanche of chakra rolled down her was a bright flash where her hand made contact. The shinobi's torso exploded in a steaming cloud of fleshy droplets. His masked head popped off like a cork and rolled away into the woods. Mizako pushed what was left of him off of her and slowly, achingly, got to her knees. Amazingly, she felt a little better after that release of chakra. She was able to put one foot underneath her, then the other. She carefully rose up to a standing position. It had felt… oddly good to kill that man… to burn him like that. A curious giddy feeling was filling her, dulling the pain, as if something inside of her delighted in the slaughter.

She raised her head. There was Tohru, dangling maybe twenty meters in front of her, twisting by her neck on the end of Majo's tentacle of darkness. Mizako took a step forward. Her legs felt light and rubbery, springy and powerful. Chakra was crackling through her, the heat of it searing, yet energizing her.

She took another step. There was sudden movement from the corner of her eye. A flight of kunai and shuriken hissed through the air towards her.

Mizako held up both hands. A wall of wavering air, the kind you'd see over a road on a very hot day rose up around her. The weapons that passed through this barrier became glowing, yellow-orange, meteors that tumbled in their trajectory and fell to the damp ground in bubbling pools of molten metal. The two shinobi who threw them produced short tanto style swords and stepped in front of her, blocking her approach to Tohru.

"Burn them!" sang the ghosts of the musical notes in her head. "Roast the vermin! Show them your strength! Crush them all!"

She felt her body jump. She had almost automatically obeyed the command without even thinking about it. With great difficulty and gritted teeth she forced the voice to the background of her mind. "Get out of my way right now," Mizako spoke in heavy tones. "Konoha shinobi or not, if you don't move, I will burn you alive and feed your roasted eyeballs to the crows."

They dove at her, aiming their thrusts in a combination of high and low. It would have been tricky for her to dodge them if she was at full speed. Overflowing with chakra, as she was now, she felt like evading the blows wouldn't even be a problem.

"BURN!" The note rang out, ear splittingly loud in her head. She didn't even need to make hands signs to focus her chakra. She just felt it roaring down her arms and out her fingertips with the raw force of an tsunami.

Power condensed between her palms forming a blazing orb the size of a watermelon. It hovered in her hands snapping and popping ominously for a second, before it accelerated away with a loud crack. There was a trail of shimmering air and vaporized snow left in the fiery comet's wake as it streaked towards the two charging shinobi. Then there was a blindingly bright light and a tooth jarring explosion. When smoke cleared, there was a blackened circle stretching out three meters in diameter in front of her. She took a step forward and felt ash crumble underfoot. She made sure to keep her eyes fixed on Majo, ignoring the things that clattered and crunched as she walked towards the enemy kunoichi, although she glanced down enough to step over a heat tarnished and partially melted tanto blade. There was musical laughter in her head. "Crushed! Crushed under your hooves!" the voice sang triumphantly.

Mizako found herself grinning and nodding along with the melody inside her skull. All the masked shinobi were staring at her now. She could smell their anxiety, hear the humming whine of doubt in their breath, the first shivers of fear down their spines, and it felt delightful. They should be afraid! Let them have a taste of the helplessness and terror that they had inflicted on Tohru and her brothers.

She returned their stares, glaring at these men who would tarnish the name of her village, who would try to kill her, kill Ay, hurt Kyo and Yuki and Tohru… She hated them. She hated them more than anything else in her life ever. Mizako felt that all she had to do was reach out and one by one they would all burn… flaring up like torches, running and screaming, until they collapsed into their own pyres. She raised that hand, pointing out to several of them in turn, a mirthless grin dancing on her lips as one by one they flinched as her finger drifted over them.

Just as she was about to release the chakra, she paused. A new voice was echoing in her head, fighting to be heard, a memory of a lesson from Minato. "You have to control your anger Mizako, or else it will control you. Hate will make you careless. Rage will leave you vulnerable. As shinobi we all must do our duty, and carry out our missions… You have a duty, and that will always come before hate."

From deep inside her, that piping voice, at the same time both incredibly distant and amazingly powerful resonated within her. "You vermin are all fools! Feed your hate. Hate will make you strong. Make it your slave and ride it into battle!" Something glared wrathfully at the masked kunoichi through her eyes. "Destroy the sealing witch!" it sang. "Look! She hurts the Tohru! Hurt her! Make her sing in the flames! Spread her ashes over the ground and dance on her bones!"

Minato's voice and the other began bickering. Shouting loudly at each other in her head. Hearing the argument gave her a strange dual sensation, as if she was both controlling her body and observing it from the outside at the same time. Mizako shook her head to clear it and once again saw Tohru dangling there.

Tohru… she just wanted a mother, someone to protect her. Chakra welled up chest and rolled down her arm in searing waves. It stung and at the same time it felt glorious. An arc of flame so thin and hot it gleamed like sunlight reflecting off running water sprang from her fingertips. The air hissed with its passage. It parted the end of the shadow snake strangling Tohru, like the sharpest katana slicing through a silk scarf. Gods it felt good. It felt so good to burn, to let the fire rise in her, to let sail forth and to be free.

The pleasure was so great, she barely registered Tohru tumbling through the air and hitting the ground hard. The girl landed face down in a puddle of dirty slush at Majo's feet and did not move.

"Kill the witch, kill them all!" commanded the haunting melody, but she wasn't listening. There was so much beauty in the soaring flames, an euphoric feeling of utter invincibility in letting it soar. She could feel the energy within her with every breath, every beat of her heart, filling her with warmth and life. How had she ever managed to live without this? How could she have been so blind? She had been limiting herself, crippling herself for how long now? And for whose benefit? For traitorous little men that bullied, lied and betrayed?

"Mizako," came her brother's voice, "When you give in to anger, you lose rational thought. You can hurt your friends, your comrades…"

"Comrades? Them?" laughed the musical notes, overpowering Minato's voice. "Stupid pathetic vermin! Enemy is an enemy! Do they show you kindness? Do they show you pity?" Mizako felt the rage again build within her. The alien voice had a point… these masked shinobi… Majo… even if they were from Konoha… did they deserve any mercy?

Mizako planted her feet and looked up at the masked Kunoichi. Her eyes blazed. She pointed an accusing finger "Get away from her you…" She felt herself stop abruptly. She had been about to say what Kushina would politely call a 'bad word'. She quickly tried to think of what to say. Even now, she couldn't bring herself to call that woman, even someone as cruel as her a... 'female dog'. Then there was the vibration of a few bars of music that echoed in her head. "You vermin!" Mizako finally spat.

"Someone kill her!" Majo snapped testily, taking a step towards Tohru. There was movement behind her as two of the shinobi assisting in holding Yuki and Kyo down started to rise. On her right flank a trio of masked men produced weapons. In front of her, hand signs were being made.

A concussive wave of energy emanating from Mizako thundered through the air, catching everyone who wasn't lying flat on the ground and tossing them them like burning, broken dolls. Bits of masked shinobi showered the landscape with smoking debris. The trees on the edge of the forest shuddered and groaned, their smaller branches bursting into flame. Yuki and Kyo, now free, quickly ran over to Tohru, calling out her name.

Mizako ignored them. She was still shivering with delight from that latest release of power. She wanted more. She had to have more. The trumpeting music inside her head was singing out a song of triumph and vindication. Mizako looked out over the steaming smoking land, bordered by burning trees and saw that it was good.

A dark shape slowly rose through the sooty plumes. Black wings of night slowly unfolded around Majo to the sound of ringing bells. The fluting song of victory faltered and faded until it was a low frustrated mutter.

"Die!" screamed the voice inside her head, and Mizako heard the words come out of her own mouth. A ball of searing, spinning flames was in her hand and launched itself towards the masked kunoichi. It exploded with a ear ringing detonation. She heard Yuki and Kyo cry out as they threw themselves over Tohru's still form to shield her.

When the smoke and flames cleared, once again, Majo was surrounded by those dark wings. There was a tinkly little chiming sound as the kunoichi shook her head. "Oh no, my dear girl, I don't believe I shall be doing anything of the sort."

Mizako held up her right hand. A tiny ball of light was shining in her palm. It was barely bigger than a peach pit, yet shining like the sun. "Run Witch," she growled echoing the other voice a second time. "Try to run… I want to burn you like the vermin you are." Mizako watched Majo carefully, circling her, waiting for the best moment to strike. "You hurt Ay," she continued, her own words mixing with those of the music. "You tried to kill me… You're a traitor to Konoha... a disease… vermin... You need to die."

"You seem to be under the impression that you are some sort of threat to me," said Majo in a cordial voice, loosening her obi, and shrugging off the remaining tatters of her robe. "Your little brats may have ruined some of my seals, and you may have managed to slay some of my pets and men, but I am... far... from being beaten." She bowed in Mizako's direction. When she straightened, the kunoichi plucked the sugegasa off her head and dropped in on her discarded clothes with a jangling thump. "I will however, acknowledge you as a worthy adversary," she said very formally. "I shall fight you with my full power." Once again unclothed, Majo reached up and unhooked her mask.

Mizako almost took a step back. The woman looked astonishingly similar to Kushina, with her long red hair and heart shaped face. Her eyes were a bit wider apart, and there was a bit of a cruel squint to them, but the most obvious difference was the spiral shaped seal that started right between her eyes and covered her entire face with its twisted whorls. Majo reached up and gave a single turn to that seal.

Dark ink started running over her cheekbones and dripping down her chin. It looked like the kunoichi had just opened a hole of the blackest midnight where her face had been. A huge red orb pressed itself up against the hole and shone a crimson malevolent light over Mizako. It was an eye. An enormous eye.

Majo tilted up her head. A rapidly rotating cloud of murkiness vomited itself skyward, obscuring the sun. Six gleaming eyes formed in the boiling shadow and balefully glared down at her.

As more and more of the murky clouds gathered, Mizako tried not to gape in sudden horror. This thing was going to be about as big as the Hokage building, maybe even as big as Jiraiya-sama's toad Gamabunta… Mizako let loose a meteoric storm of flaming spheres. She was hoping to hit Majo, to distract her, to stop this gargantuan summoning before it could take shape, but a gigantic leg detached itself from the maelstrom of blackness and blocked her attack with an earth shaking crash.

Slowly the monster began to take shape. Its outline looked mostly like a spider, but it had a pair of vast wing-like shadows slowly sprouting from its back. There were also various shadows that looked like writhing tentacles sprouting from its abdomen.

Mizako tried another fire based attack, scything at the monster's leg with a flame that had been honed until it was a thin razor's edge of heat. This blow was also deflected by the slowly solidifying creature. Inside her, the pain from the chakra was almost gone, but that giddy feeling of invulnerability was fading fast as well. A trickle of anxiety began to color the rage that was fueling her. This wasn't working. She needed to think of some way to attack Majo indirectly, she needed to attack in some way that this monster of her's couldn't defend.

"No!" howled a cacophony of notes in her head. "Do not think! You fight an Uzumaki! Anger! Rage! Kill! Destroy! DESTROY!" Mizako spread her arms wide and created a ball of white hot energy only slightly smaller than she was. It flew towards this new demon and detonated with an explosion forceful enough to tear trees trunks from their roots and send them crashing down to the forest floor.

At first she felt a surge of hope, something had happened. There was a great ark hole right under the six red eye spots... But then she caught sight of the smaller dark patches dangling downward. More spiders, huge ones, slowly creeping down their threads from the great monster's maw. "More! Bigger! DESTROY!" crashed the music. Mizako made another energy ball and let it fly. All this one succeeded in doing was to knock a swarm of the descending spiders loose from their threads and send them crashing to the forest floor.

"Stupid!" screamed the musical notes, clashing together in an array of disharmony. "Weak! That is not anger! Not rage! THIS!" Mizako felt a sharp shooting pain in her scar, followed by a fountain of fury. Into her mind flowed the design of a jutsu. It was so simple, it was so obvious. How could she have not seen it before? Mizako lifted her arms to the sky.

Five pillars of flame, each as big as a centuries old oak erupted out of the ground, encircling Majo and her summoning. They writhed and twisted, weaving a hypnotic dance around the storm of dark clouds. They were weaving together, braiding themselves into a huge twisted funnel that roared taller than the forest, taller than the hills, a blazing beacon that lit up the surrounding countryside. The billowing top of this conflagration molded itself to Mizako's will, shifting into the fiery head of an angry dragon, roaring its vengeance and hatred to the sky. As the firedrake's head rose she could feel her chakra being siphoned out, being funneled into fueling this beast borne of rage… She didn't think she could have stopped at this point even if she had wanted to. This jutsu was almost beyond her controlling it now. It felt like it was turning into something… alive.

Then Mizako closed her fists and brought her arms sharply down. The dragon turned and dove, jaws open wide.

The tower of flames collapsed on itself. The wind was a howling gale, rumbling as the air was sucked into the center of the inferno, making it reach temperatures that could vaporize stone. Above all the clamor and fury, something inside the fiery whirlwind screamed in agony.

There was a hole about twenty meters in diameter sinking deep into the earth. Mizako stepped to the edge and looked down. A foul sulfurous stench stung her eyes. The bottom of the pit was a undulating, glowing pool of lava, lighting her face and body with sliding beams of red and orange. The song inside of her was one of unbridled joy, the song of victories won, of enemies slain. She spread her arms wide and laughed, rejoicing at what she had wrought.

There was a sharp pain in her ankle. Someone had attacked her! Mizako spun, hands glowing with chakra, face locked in a snarl, ready to destroy this newest threat. "What the fuck is the matter with you?" Kyo screamed, his face red and tears pouring down his cheeks. "Didn't you hear me? Tohru isn't breathing! Why the hell are you laughing?! "

A sudden cold peace settled over her mind, dousing the maniac joy. The song that had been guiding her actions, leading her footsteps, like in a dance, faded to a distant murmur. The chakra, still looking for an outlet, roiled and bubbled within her, teetering on the knife's edge of release. Part of her still wanted to burn, still wanted to let the power fly and soar, but it was being pushed down by the memory of a small tear stained face with golden eyes.

There was Yuki, cradling his sister, patting her face, pulling strings of thick mud and snow from her braids, trying to wipe the blood away from her neck with the hem of his shirt. He looked up as Mizako approached. His face was pale and his lip was quivering. "I… I don't know what to do," he said, his voice cracking with helplessness. He tried to pick Tohru up, hand her to Mizako, but she was too heavy for the boy. "Help her Mizako… please..." he begged.

Mizako stumbled forward and landed on her knees with a muddy splash. She lay the girl down and checked for breathing. Nothing. She ran her fingers over the girl's neck feeling for a pulse. Her skin was so cold. Again, there was nothing.

A thin keening wail split the air. It took Mizako a moment to realize it was coming out of her own mouth. Tohru… All the girl had ever wanted was to be loved. All she wanted was a mother… and Mizako had turned her down. Sure, she had promised to protect her, promised to be there for her… and what had happened? Tohru had been the one to try to rescue her. Tohru had attacked Majo for her… Tohru had fallen, calling out for her.

Her brother's words came thundering back into her head, slamming her with the force of a hammer. "Mizako, when you give in to anger, you lose rational thought. You can hurt your friends, your comrades…"

This was her fault. Hers. She was so stupid, such an idiot. The need for vengeance… the need to hurt someone had blinded her… And Tohru had paid the price. Hurt overwhelmed anger, sorrow overtook rage. The maelstrom of emotions blended together with her already roaring chakra, fanning the flames hotter. She could feel it flaring just under her skin. Again, the pains came in huge searing waves, but this time she didn't mind so much... this time she felt she deserved it. Her braids were whipping back and forth in the storm of raw chakra as it was leaking out of her pores.

Kyo and Yuki cried out and fell back, pushed away by the rolling waves of energy cascading from her body. They were screaming at her, yelling at her to stop, but she wasn't listening. The constant crackle of the flames as the grass around her dried out and burned to a crisp was comforting… soothing… almost a lullaby as she rocked Tohru back and forth.

Tears were dripping from her chin, sparking like yellow orange diamonds in the reflected firelight. Mizako balanced one on her fingertip and stared at it in wonder as the flames leaped higher. It was beautiful. She used the glowing water to try to clean up Tohru's face. It wasn't enough. She could never cry enough tears to clean her up… never.

Mizako felt her anguish grow, pushing her ever more unstable chakra past the tipping point. She made a half hearted attempt to stop it, trying to use some of the exercises that Minato and Kushina had taught her to calm down, to bring herself back under control. She tried, but she was too upset. She buried her face next in Tohru's hair to stifle her sobs. She clenched her fists and squeezed the inferno that was her own emotions: rage hatred, sorrow, pain... self loathing, mixing them together, fusing them into a white hot, critical mass of power. She felt the hard, blistering nodule of energy form in her midsection and slowly start to grow. She instinctively knew that when it reached a certain size it would explode. She didn't think she could stop this… she wasn't sure she wanted too. Mizako lifted her head and shrieked out her remorse and heartbreak at the sky. A bright trail of fiery chakra, a tiny fraction of the power seething within her, vomited out her mouth and lit up the heavens in a fountain of boiling plasma.


	16. Chapter 16

Ay looked up at this second pillar of fire and swore.

When he had first seen the flashes and heard the explosions from the the other end of the clearing, he had felt a huge wave of relief. He could recognize that explosive jutsu anywhere. Mizako was awake, she was alive, and from the looks of things she was fighting strong… Unbelievably strong, he thought with a worried frown as the force of the explosions grew. There was one of them where the pressure wave was almost strong enough to knock him off his feet, and that was from a good hundred meters away.

"Don't hurt yourself half pint," he had muttered under his breath as he leapfrogged over one spider to land a dropkick on one of the masked shinobi. He had taken a katana off of one of the faceless men and had just hurled it at one of the arachnids, hoping his aim was good enough to put out a eye. When the black demon cloud had boiled up over the battlefield. He had seen the fireballs streak up to detonate uselessly against it, and all rationality, all strategy fled from his mind. Mizako was in trouble. She needed him. His lighting armor flared as he started burning his chakra reserves to get over there in time.

Like everyone else in the clearing he had stopped and stared when the great fiery dragon had shot up from the ground around the swirling storm of darkness and swallowed it whole. Unlike the masked shinobi though, he was cheering. "Gods squirt!" he crowed admiringly. "If you keep that up, I'll have to stop making fun of you!" He turned and laughed at the spiders and shinobi, who had halted in their pursuit of him staring stunned up at the sky. "Do you see that?" he called out to them in a taunting voice. "Do you see? That was Mizako Namikaze, the little kunoichi with the braids! She is the one who destroyed your monster… alone!" He drew himself up to his full height and flexed his muscles to look as big and intimidating as possible. He spent a bit more of his dwindling chakra to have his electric aura flare in an ominous manner. "If I were you," he said in a growl. "I would be somewhere else."

It had worked. The faceless men were stepping back, one by one, alternately casting worried glances between his blazing form and the remnants of that soaring fire dragon, now just a column of smoke, slowly dissipating in the breeze.

A shiver passed through Ay, the kind of cold frisson that one gets when a large amount of chakra is released nearby. His shadow sprang into sharp contrast in front of him. The world took on a ghostly pale blue hue. The spiders froze, chittering nervously to one another. The remaining masked shinobi had stared at a point above his head for a moment, and then quickly started to run.

He had let out a curse and started running too. Only he ran towards the eye stinging tower of intense purple white light. There was one thought in his head... Mizako.

She was surrounded by an orb of intense heat. The roaring of the furnace like flames squelched his voice every time he called out to her, every time he shouted out her name. Ay could see Mizako's silhouette plainly through the licking flames. It looked like she was cradling something or someone in her lap. The incandescent energies being poured out into the air were frightening at this distance. He could feel his lightning armor flaking away as it fended off the radiation pouring out from her.

Ay barely heard the shout. He turned to see Kyo frantically wave at him from the bottom of a shallow depression in the field. Using enhanced speed, he was next to the boy in a instant. "You have to help her Ay-sensei!" the boy shouted, centimeters away from his face. "You have to do something! She's really hurt!"

"Who? Ay asked, "Mizako?"

"Tohru!" yelled Yuki in his other ear. "It's Tohru… She… she…" The boy pulled away and buried his face in his hands.

Ay nervously looked up at the inferno. Damn. A unstable chakra cascade. When his brother had become the jinchuriki of the eight tails, he had been warned about such a thing. Emotions could boost chakra, just like chakra can affect emotion. Combining a traumatic event with a huge reserve of chakra, such as a bound tailed beast, can result in surges of power, perhaps even enough to release the sealed creature without warning.

His father still carried the scar from the time he battled the Eight Tails during one such incident. The Jinchuriki at the time had lost his spouse on a mission. He had seemed fine all throughout the funeral proceedings until it was time for him to toss the first torch on the pyre… then he had lost all control and the Hachibi had rampaged.

"There are only three things that you can do in a situation like that," his father had warned him quietly as the pair of them watched the Eight Tail's newest host, Bee, practice his sword forms in the training yard. "First you try to talk them down, if there is still enough of the jinchuriki left in there, and they're strong willed, you can sometimes give them enough of an anchor that they can find their way back. Second is to knock them out. If you catch it early enough, once consciousness is lost, they should return back to being human. Third…" His father paused and frowned. "Finally, if neither of those work… you have to weigh the life of the jinchuriki against the safety of the village." The Raikage stared at his eldest son. "And the village always comes first."

She wasn't a jinchuruki, had never been, yet the amount of power that was pouring out from her was astounding. Ay had always known that the diminutive woman had hidden ressources. He had sometimes felt them briefly, mostly during their most intimate of moments when pleasure would make their barriers waver, when their powers danced above each other's skin, intertwining and mingling in swirls of light and heat but this… this was beyond anything he had ever imagined. She was lost in the glow of her own chakra, an energy that would destroy her and the Gods only knew how much of the surrounding countryside, if she didn't manage to regain control of it.

Ay looked at Mizako and then looked down at Kyo and Yuki. He had no idea how big the explosion would be... Still, he supposed, the cubs at least should try to get to safety. "Yuki, Kyo, I want you two to run for the tree line and keep going. Don't stop until…"

"No!" bellowed Kyo, trying to grab Ay by his shirt but his hands were forced away by Ay's lightning armor. "No! If you are going in there to try to rescue Tohru and Mizako then we are coming with you goddamnit! Tohru is our sister! Mizako is our M… our Mizako! You are not leaving us behind!" Next to him Yuki raised his head and nodded determinedly once.

"Do you know how dangerous it is in there?" Ay asked.

"We don't care!" snarled Kyo. "Besides, do you honestly think we'd be able to outrun that… that… whatever the hell's going to happen?"

Ay couldn't help but smile at their defiance and courage. Perhaps the boys would be able to help him talk Mizako down. "Fine," he said pulling the boys in front of him and letting his lightning armor flow over the pair of them. "Stay close... do not leave my side, if you get too far away, I can't protect you any more." Holding the boys close, he ran to the edge of the nimbus of leaking chakra, and plunged inside.

It was like walking into the sun.

Burning tails of plasma and other luminous gases streamed around his armor, changing color from reds and yellows, to greens and even the occasional deep blue or violet as they tore away pieces of his armor and were ionized by the sparks of his lightning chakra. It felt like it took him an eternity to walk from the perimeter of the swirling energies to where Mizako crouched, but it was only about ten meters.

Yuki and Kyo were pressed tightly against him, the tempest of energies kept forcing the pair of them back, making them stumble as they struggled forward. They reached the center of the maelstrom and looked down at Mizako and Tohru. "Can you help her?" shrieked Yuki, above the howl of the gale.

Through the whipping tendrils of fire, Ay could see that the girl was limp and unresponsive. "Maybe," he shouted back, not wanting to crush the boy's hopes. "We have to calm Mizako down first." He took a deep breath and leaned forward.

"Mizako!" he bellowed, putting his face as close as he dared. This close to her, the air was scalding hot and stank of burning tin. He burst into a coughing fit and turned away to get some slightly fresher air. "Mizako! Kitten!" he bellowed again, "Calm down Kitten! Stop this! We need to see to Tohru! She needs a medical-nin!"

There was no response from Mizako, her banshee wail continued to ring in his ears, the tower of chakra continued to erupt from her mouth. "Kitten, please!" Ay called out desperately, reaching out to touch her face where tears were seeping from closed eyelashes, tears that instantly turned into glowing flakes of light as they vaporized in the heat.

He jumped with pain and pulled his hand away. "Are you okay?" yelled Kyo.

Ay nodded, staring at his blistered fingers. That close to her, the heat was so great that it burned away enough of his armor to leave him vulnerable. He looked at her with a mix of sick worry and awe… He never would have guessed that the frail kunoichi housed so much raw power inside of her… and she was completely lost to him right now, swept away in the cascade of energy and emotion. He was going to have to try more drastic measures.

Ay's hand started to glow with electricity, faded and then grew brighter as he gave the jutsu more chakra. The damned chakra storm kept tearing his lightning away. It was going to be difficult to judge how much energy he needed to use. He wanted to shock her just enough to knock her unconscious for a moment or two. Too little could provoke some sort of instinctive defensive response. Too much could kill her.

He narrowed his eyes for a second, studying the storm. Once he was ready, he would have to strike fast. He couldn't afford to wait around doing nothing. Ay pulled his arm back and gave the jutsu one last boost of energy. Gods, he prayed he wasn't wrong. "What are you doing?" screamed Kyo, his eyes widening.

"I'm so sorry Kitten… I… I…" Ay stopped to swallow down the lump in his throat. "Gods, I hope this works," he exhaled and swung his fist forward.

Sparked popped off his hand as it flew. It landed in the center of Mizako's chest and discharged all of its energy with a loud crack. There was a blindingly bright flash as the small bolt of lightning leapt from Mizako, to Tohru, to the earth.

Mizako jerked and fell sideways, dropping Tohru to the ground where she fell, legs and arms twitching wildly. The column of light and heat scoring the sky vanished at once, but the tempest of chakra took longer to dissipate. Ay couldn't bear to wait. He dropped his lightning armor too early and immediately felt a body encompassing flash of searing heat. He gave a choking cough and went to Mizako while Yuki and Kyo ran to Tohru.

He picked her up and frantically checked her over. She looked slightly sootier than usual, but she was still breathing. He used a finger to brush the bangs from her face. "Mizako," he whispered, "talk to me Kittten."

There was a whooping gasp behind him, immediately followed by Yuki and Kyo's scream of shock that turned to joy. Ay turned to see Tohru sitting up, coughing and retching. He looked back to see Mizako's eyelashes flutter. "You're awake!" he exclaimed with a grin that he couldn't keep from spreading over his entire face. Her mouth opened and shut twice before he realized she was trying to say something. He leaned closer. The faintest whisper escaped on her breath. "What was that my dearest Kitten?" Ay asked, bringing his ear all the way down to her lips, the burning in his eyes a result from all the smoke, no doubt.

"Ouch," Mizako exhaled.

* * *

" _Wait," interrupted the Guardian of the Walls again, "so you are claiming that after you were slain by darkness and trapped by fire, you were then brought back to to life by a bolt of lightning?" he asked, a drop of incredulity tinting his normally calm voice. "Are you telling the cubs a true tale from your youth, or weaving a fantastic adventure story bordering on myth?"_

 _The storyteller looked at him, a carefully blank expression on her face. "Well, I did say I was unconscious for most of this battle… What I just told you came from what Yuki and Kyo chose to tell me."_

" _And you believed them?"_

 _The storyteller nodded. "I do." She tapped herself in the center of her chest. "I have the burn mark from the aforementioned lighting right here proving it."_

" _Oooh! Are you going to show us that scar too?" the red haired boy cub cried out eagerly. There was a moment of embarrassed silence, followed by the sound of struggle as he was forcibly dragged away. "Oh come on Mom! Why can't I stay? I didn't do nothin'!" his whining was soon lost in the trees._

 _The storyteller used the interruption to quickly continue. She wanted to avoid the Guardian's line of questioning. "So there we were... together again. Yuki was crying squeezing me tightly around the waist. Kyo was bouncing up and down next to me shouting encouragements in my ear, alternately punching me in the shoulder or excitedly pulling on my braids._

" _It was not the most comfortable of experiences. Every muscle in my body was feeling sore, and I was dizzy and lightheaded. I tried to ask my two brothers to stop, to give me a moment's peace, but my throat felt raw, like I had been swallowing broken glass. All I could manage to get out was the harshest of croaks._

 _The storyteller smiled. "I was trying to warn them… for you see, no sooner had I regained consciousness when I was heartily sick all over myself and my brothers._

" _Kyo immediately jerked away, but I don't think Yuki even realized what had happened, or if he did notice, he didn't care."_

" _My head drifted and I looked over to my left. Ay was holding Mizako tight to his chest, murmuring all sorts of things to her as he kissed her forehead and eyes and nose. Mizako was crying. She looked exhausted. Her bangs were plastered to her face with sweat, her lips pale, and her whole body was shaking. The effort of battling Majo had drained her completely."_

" _I tried to talk to Yuki and Kyo, to ask them what had happened, to ask them to help me with Mizako, but I couldn't manage anything other than the faintest rasp… But with a bit of pantomime, my brothers understood what I was asking and launched into the tale." Her eyes quickly flicked to the guardian of the walls and then away. "The tale I just told you... of how Majo had choked the life out of me and was defeated by Mizako. How Mizako mourned me with such a heartbroken passion that Ay had to snap her out of it with a small jolt of electricity... that fortunately hit me as well."_

" _I listened to their story, watching Ay and Mizako the whole time… all I could think of was how I wanted to be with them. Using my brothers as a pair of crutches, I hobbled over to where Mizako lay, shivering and weeping." The storyteller sighed. "I wanted to thank them… to curl up with them… to tell them how much they meant to me… to tell them I loved them… to pretend one last time that we could be a family together… I knew it would never happen, but I wanted to keep dreaming that dream." The storyteller dropped her head to her chest. "All dreams must end sometime… Remember that my little cubs."_

* * *

 _Ay was desperately trying to keep her warm. Mizako was shaking like a leaf in his arms, her skin cold and clammy to the touch, as if all her body heat had burned away with her fury. He had already covered her with his flak jacket and his shirt, and was eyeing the burning tree line, most likely debating whether or not he should try to bring back a burning tree trunk to warm her._

 _It was because he was looking at the forest that he saw the spiders first._

 _Shadows were shifting behind the treeline of the wildwood, dark patches of midnight black in sharp contrast to what should have been forest browns and dirty white snow. The monstrosities that had fallen from the mouth of the Majo's demonic summoning earlier were returning to the scene of the battle._

 _The largest of them were toppling the burning tree trunks out of the way with enormous hairy forelegs, clearing a safe path for the smaller ones. There were so many, their thudding footsteps beating the ground like one big continuous roll of thunder._

 _I felt exhausted… sick… weak. I knew I would never be able to escape from this galloping horde. The shaking from the spiders' march was too much for my rubbery legs to handle. I sank down to my knees as my body filled with despair. "Just go," I murmured as Kyo and Yuki tried to pull me back to my feet. "Run… Leave me."_

" _Kyo, Yuki," Ay said urgently, "hold her up…keep her moving... Carry her if you have to."_

 _Mizako herself stirred at the sound of his voice. "Ay? W-Why is e-everything shaking?" She peeked her head out from under Ay's shirt and looked at the other side of the clearing, tears still streaming down her face. "Oh… Th-that isn't good… Ay? I think w-we are in t-trouble…" she said through chattering teeth, as she hiccupped out the last of her exhausted sobs._

 _More spiders. The four arachnids that Ay had been battling had approached us undetected, under the cover of all the noise, and cut off our retreat._

 _The arachnids from the woods started to spread out in a very wide circle with us at the center. The smallest were about the same size as Ay. The largest were as big as a house. Either way there were dozens of them, surrounding us, hemming us in._

" _Mizako?" Ay murmured quietly, his head turning this way and that. "I don't suppose that you've recovered enough to run?"_

" _No," croaked a new voice from behind me. "There will be no escape for any of you." I recognized the voice but turned anyway._

 _There was Majo-sama, or rather, what was left of her. Somehow she had survived. She could barely stand andTamago was there beside her, keeping her upright along with a dozen of the faceless men who had made it through the battle unscathed. Her hair was burnt away, her skin was blackened in some patches and showing huge reddened blisters in others. Whenever she moved her charred flesh would crack into deep crevices that shone wetly at the bottom. Her left eye was missing and the socket was leaking a pale yellow fluid down her cheek, but her right eye was fixated on us and it gleamed with hatred._

 _She tried to point at us with gnarled fingers. "I'm going to enjoy this," she intoned in a sing song voice. "I'm going to enjoy watching you all die, one by one." The ground shuddered with the thunderous roar of a thousand footsteps. A shadow loomed over us. A shadow with eight legs. One of the largest spiders had eagerly charged toward us, greedily hoping to make a meal of us before its brethren arrived and he had to share. Ay looked up at him and began to glow with his lightning armor one more time. It looked so faint, in many spots it almost seemed to have faded away to nothing._

 _He was weak and drained of chakra and almost certainly going to die, but he was still willing to protect us. Yuki and Kyo stood up next to our Ay-sensei, claws at the ready. That one huge arachnid stopped, looked down at Ay and my brothers with glittering eyes and drooling fangs and raised up its head to strike._

 _But the earth didn't stop shaking, in fact it got worse, much worse. The tremors began to feel like the rumblings of an earthquake. It seemed like even the spider's eyes grew wide at the vibrations._

 _And then suddenly it was calm. A huge silhouette blotted out the sky... a silhouette with eight limbs. At first I thought it was another monster of Majo's, but she was staring up at it as horrified as we were. One of the creature's gargantuan limbs uncoiled and stabbed viciously downwards. The ground jumped and the arachnid closest to us was crushed underneath an enormous tentacle. The creature then bounded off, charging about the clearing, scrambling after the remaining spiders, smashing them as well._

 _There was a cold chuckle from Ay-sensei. I looked up to see his face split with a wide grin… It wasn't happy that grin, it wasn't warm, like the ones he would give us when we had accomplished a difficult task in our training. It was a feral grin, proud and vengeful. He crossed his arms in a self satisfied way, watching the monster in its orgy of carnage._

 _There was a blur of movement as two figures approached in a full run. The tiger masked ANBU skidded to a stop next to us. "Oh good, you're here… and more or less in one piece too," said Kakashi, relieved. "Now hopefully you can all go back to to the Hidden Cloud village as soon as possible… And take that brother of yours with you," he said wearily, giving this tentacled monster a pained look_

" _Ay-sama!" called a kunoichi with bright red hair, landing beside Kakashi. She was dressed in a long flowing dress with bright showy colors. Bracelets and bangles rang on her wrists and ankles. "I'm so glad we found you! Your father will be back any day now and you are long overdue!"_

 _Ay raised an eyebrow. "Marui? Why are you dressed like that?"_

 _Her coffee colored face was suddenly tinged with coppery red. "Um… It's a disguise… Bee-sama… well… he insisted we conceal ourselves as traveling performers and…"_

" _Bee!" bellowed Ay, pointing an accusing finger at the tentacled creature. "Are you using this recovery mission as an excuse to throw concerts?!"_

 _I moved so I could get a clearer look at this new monster. It whooped with glee as it ran, chasing the arachnids in an undulating, clumsy looking, but deceptively fast way. It seemed like the beast had the body of an octopus with the head of a bull. Strong arms and tentacles flailed about as it tore up the trees and earth of the clearing, attacking spiders and masked shinobi alike. After a single circuit of wild destruction, it stopped almost right where it started. Two cold eyes stared down at us for a moment and I was wondering if we were to be next… And then the monster did the strangest thing._

 _It lifted up one huge arm and began to sing. "Yeah! Hear my words, for this is how I play. Killer Bee and the Hachibi have just come and saved the day! See my awesome moves, hear my awesome rhymes, Everybody loves me, so get down with the times!" The monster then proceeded to do a funny little dance all the while making: "Boom chicka shhk boom shhk boom chicka shhik!" noises with its mouth... spraying saliva every which way._

" _What are you waiting for? Kill them… now… while that idiot is distracted," hissed Majo's voice again. There were still ten or so faceless men remaining who were loosely standing around Majo on the edge of the lava pit, unsure of what to do. They kept glancing back and forth, alternating between staring at our tiny group and this new monster. "Kill them!" Majo urged again, an edge of hysteria entering her voice._

 _Tamago was the one who made the decision. He held up one hand until he had all of the masked men's attention, and then he gave a sharp wave forward, telling them to get us._

 _They took a few steps forward and almost immediately faltered in their advance. The masked men backed themselves into a tight circle with Majo at the center, weapons at the ready. At first I couldn't tell why, I couldn't hear anything over the noise of the giant monster's beatboxing._

 _I saw them before I heard them, dusky grey shadows that I could occasionally glimpse, loping through the clouds of dust, darting between the crushed remains of the spiders. I could start to hear the deep growls and snarls when they were about ten meters away._

 _The dogs were huge, their fur bristling. Many of them were covered with scars, but none of those old wounds seemed to slow them down, they just added to their air of ferocity. Teeth were barred, and legs were set ready to leap like tightly coiled springs, but not one of them struck. They just stood there and dared the masked men to make a move._

 _Two women and a dog walked slowly up behind the circled canines. One I recognized. It was Kira Inuzuka, the dog girl… the other was the hardest looking woman I have ever seen. She had wild brown hair, eyes with slitted pupils, and a harsh determined expression. Her companion was a huge wolf, easily half again as large as the biggest dog there. He wore an eyepatch and a smug, satisfied look on his muzzle. "What do you wish to do with the prey, Tsume-sama?" he asked the warrior woman._

 _She just stood there taking in the scene, but when she looked over at us her face softened by the smallest amount. Then she turned and glared at the faceless men. "Minku? Are these the shinobi you were telling me about?" She asked in a cold voice. The mink masked girl nodded. "I suspect you gentlemen are well aware that you are surrounded by the nin-ken warhounds of the Inuzuka clan," the kunoichi said, her voice a snarl of barely controlled fury. "Consider yourself prisoners… She took a step forward and folded her arms behind her back. "At this point, I normally would warn you that if you tried anything at all, that the dogs would tear you to shreds… but I'm really hoping that you try something," she finished with an evil grin._

 _Tamago turned and looked at Majo. An unspoken piece of communication passed between them. Majo snarled with frustration. "Gamma three," she said with a croak. Every masked man put their hand on her. There was a clap of thunder, and they were gone._

" _Godsdamnit!" bellowed the warrior woman. "Why didn't anyone tell me they knew the godsdamned transportation jutsu!" She started barking orders to the dogs. "Find them! Track them! They can't have gotten far. That woman looked like she was barely alive! And when you do find them," she snapped at the sniffing canines, "break their fingers if you have to! Don't give them the smallest chance to make a hand sign!" There was a milling about of pawed feet and then a great howl went up. Half the pack dispersed in an ever expanding circle and charged into the woods._

 _The hard faced kunoichi muttered to herself as she strode purposefully up to us. "Everybody and their freaking grandmother uses some version of that thrice damned jutsu now… Thank you so much Minato," she grumbled her voice dripping with sarcasm, "maybe there's a few other, pain in the ass jutsus you can show off to the world…."_

 _She stalked grouchilly over in front of us and gave the pair of Kumo shinobi a long hard stare. Ay just glared back, not willing to move from Mizako's side. It was the red haired kunoichi, Marui, who pulled him back a few steps to let the Konoha kunoichi approach._

 _The matriarch of the dogs approached, wolf at her side. "Mizako, Mizako, Mizako," she said with a sigh. "What the hell have you gotten yourself mixed up in this time? And just look at what you did to yourself!" She tsked under her breath. For all her wild, feral appearance, this new kunoichi's scent was tinged with overtones of protectiveness, a warm smell of kindness and the promise of shelter. It was that motherly aroma that stopped me from scrambling madly away from her._

" _Tsu-Tsume-san," Mizako stammered. "How did you f-find us?" she asked, stuttering with a mixture of surprise and exhaustion._

 _Tsume Inuzuka, war chieftain of the Inuzuka clan sniffed the air loudly. "Please... you lit up the sky with enough chakra that a blind man could have seen it." She crouched down and looked Mizako over. "Minato's going to have a fit when he hears about this… He's not going to assign you anything but D-rank missions for the next twenty years."_

 _Mizako shivered and tried to prop herself up. "I-I don't know w-what you mean… I'm j-just fine," she insisted. "M-Minato d-doesn't need to be troubled with this… R-really."_

" _Hmmm," said the Inuzuka woman with a smirk. "Well… luckily for you I happened to bring a medical-nin with me. Let's see if she can patch you up enough that you can avoid giving the Hokage a heart attack."_

 _She then turned and took in the rest of us. "Speaking of medical-nin… You three must be the pups that Minku was telling me about. Come over here and let me take a look at you."_

 _Yuki took a step forward but was pushed back by Kyo's outstretched arm. My brother didn't say anything he just stood there glaring at the Inuzuka woman. "Cautious little runt aren't you?" she said not unkindly. "Would you object then if I came over to you?" She knelt down to our level and crept forwards. "That's it," she murmured reassuringly, her voice a hypnotic, comforting alto. "I just want to take a quick look. I need to see if any of you will need the medical-nin as well."_

 _Tsume went to Kyo first. He stiffened at her cursory exam, scowling at her when she sniffed his head, but true to her word, that was all the woman did to him. Yuki went next. He decided to chance talking to her. "Mizako needs help from the medical-nin more than we do… She passed out after her fight."_

" _Doesn't surprise me in the least," said the kunoichi gruffly. "We saw that jutsu from more than three kilometers away. The girl should know better by now than to burn up chakra like that… Incredibly foolhardy of her... But I think she'll be fine." She smacked my brother on the arm. "As are you. A few bruises and scrapes but both you and your brother here are in remarkably good shape for being caught in the middle of a shinobi battle."_

 _Yuki nodded. "You should probably take a look at Tohru then… she... hurt her neck pretty badly in the fight."_

 _The kunoichi turned to look at me. "Tohru was it? Your turn… let's old Aunt Tsume take a look at the neck." I reached up and pulled down the neckline of my shirt. She looked at the red, raw ring, saw the other fading bruises and scratches, and then back up into my eyes. "Those other shinobi…the ones who fled… they did this to you?" I nodded, avoiding her eyes. " Minku told me that she found you three in a cage… Did they… do other things as well?" I started to tell her our story… how we were locked in the cage and not fed and beaten and was just starting to tell her about that one day where Tamago had entered the cage looking for me and Kyo provoked him into beating him instead, when she held up a hand for silence. At first I was worried that she was disgusted or disappointed with me, but then she called out for her dog._

" _Kuromaru?" she said with a whistle._

 _The one eyed wolf came trotting over. "Yes Tsume?" he rumbled._

" _Send out a howl. Tell the pack that when they catch up to those bastards, I want them eaten from the toes up… slowly."_

 _The wolf gave a grin that showed his fangs. "As you command." Then he threw back his head and howled._

 _There was a short answering call that echoed through the forest. "Well, that seems to take care of everything at this very moment," said Tsume leaning over and giving Mizako a pat on the head, "Let's see what we can do about getting the four of you back to Konoha at the earliest opportunity."_

" _That would not be safe for the children," said Ay in a low rumble. "If you want to guarantee their safety, it would be best if they came with me... to Kumo."_

 _Tsume stiffened before turning to look at him. "And you… you must be the 'mysterious nameless Kumo' shinobi," she said glaring at Ay. "Minku here mentioned... something about you insisting on following everyone and making a general nuisance of yourself… Although how my niece was seemingly unable to pick your photo out of the bingo book is beyond me," she said giving the ANBU girl a scowl of disapproval. We could smell Kira's blush behind her mask._

" _It's all right Tsume-sama," said Kakashi suddenly appearing at her elbow. "This seemed like a… rather unusual situation so I asked Minku to keep some of the details to herself." Kakashi gave Mizako a swift yet significant glance._

 _Tsume Inuzuka raised an eyebrow to stare at the tiger masked shinobi. "Really?"_

 _Kakashi nodded. "I sent out a distress call, he got tangled up in the initial battle and Ay was… good enough to lend some assistance in the rescue attempt."_

" _Lend some assistance?" muttered Ay with a glower._

 _Kakashi ignored him. "After we were separated, I ran into the Hachibi and another Kumo kunoichi searching for him. I thought it would be best if we helped him... find his way back home."_

" _Find my way back home?" asked Ay, insulted. "If it weren't for me, those three would still be in chains. If you want them to remain free, you should send them with me back to Kumo."_

 _Tsume looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Right now… Completely ignoring the fact that this is an illegal border incursion violating at least three treaties between our two nations… What makes you think I would be stupid enough to entrust a potted plant to that hedonistic, ready to fall off a mountainside during the first minor windstorm, bunch of hovels that you call a village, let alone three obviously, malnourished mistreated children?"_

 _Ay's face grew red. "Because by bringing them to Konoha, you bring them to the very ones who were trying to enslave them you stupid woman!" he growed, trying to keep his anger in check. "Those masked men were Leaf Shinobi on a mission to retrieve these three!"_

 _Tsume lifted an eyebrow and looked down at Mizako. "It's t-true Tsume-san.. they said they were from the Leaf," Mizako stuttered._

 _Tsume stared back and forth between the pair of them and laughed. "And you believed them Mizako?" She shook her head. "Claiming you're from someone else's village is the oldest trick in the book. I would place my money that those masked men were from another Shinobi village… say, one with a history of abducting children," she said pointedly at Ay._

" _In spite of the insults you are tossing at me and my village, I am trying to be reasonable here," Ay said in a cold voice. "I am telling you the truth. If I was trying to take these children by force I could do so without a moment's hesitation, and there is nothing you or or dogs could do to stop me."_

 _There was an echoing howl from the forest to our left. The huge one-eyed dog perked up his ears. "Tsume-san," he said quietly._

" _Are you really that desperate to see the afterlife?" asked Tsume reproachfully. "Stop with the bravado. You can barely stand. You are in no condition to make threats."_

" _Excuse me, Tsume-sama…" said Kumomaru again._

" _No condition to make threats?" Ay gave her a confident grin. "I have the Eight Tails at my command."_

 _Tsume leaned to one side and looked over Ay's shoulder. "Do you now?" she asked in an amused voice._

 _Ay turned. The bull headed monster was waggling all ten of his arms back and forth singing, "The baddest of the bad, oh yeah that's me, everybody get down with MC Killer Bee! Yeah!"_

" _Absolutely terrifying," commented Tsume in a deadpan voice._

 _There was more barking from the forest. "Tsume-san, you need to…" the wolf interrupted again._

 _The muscles rippled in Ay's jaw as he ground his teeth together. "Bee!" he snarled. "Get down here!"_

 _The giant octopus shrank slowly turning into a man. My brothers and I gaped at him. It was the first time we had seen anyone other than each other undergo the change. This man wearing sunglasses strutted over to Ay-sensei, still singing. "Yo big bro… there's no need to shout, I just can't control my muse with these adoring fans about. I'm thinking you're just jealous, green with envy is what I say. You were about to wet your pants before little brother saved the day!"_

" _Hey!" snapped Kyo. "You take that back! Ay-sensei is scared of nothing! He was about to take on all of them before you showed up singing your stupid songs!"_

 _Bee stared at my brother, stunned for a second. Then he pulled out a notebook and a pencil from his equipment pouch, scribbled something down, tore off the page and handed it to Kyo. "What the hell is this?" my brother asked._

" _That…" Bee said with a wide grin, "Is my autograph. You'll want to hang on to that, little man, it'll be worth mucho deniro when I hit it big and am oh... so... famous! Yeah!"_

 _Kyo glowered at him. "Your singing sucks."_

 _Bee took a step forward, his face inscrutable behind his sunglasses. "It's not singing… little man," he emphasized. "It's the latest in hip hop fusion… Enka-rap," he said looming over my brother._

 _Kyo didn't flinch. "Fine… Your Enka-rap sucks… and your breath stinks like fish guts." Ay couldn't help it, he snorted a laugh out his nose._

" _Tsume!" barked Kumomaru. "We have a party of eight unknowns approaching from the west!"_

 _The inter village rivalry was instantly forgotten. The Inuzuka woman and the dogs snapped to a ready position around us, joined by the Kumo shinobi. Ay yelled over to his little brother, who was still scowling at Kyo. "Bee! Quit fooling around! We've got company!" Bee sprouted eight tentacles and twisted and faced the new threat._

 _They padded out of the forest, sleek and graceful. Two panthers, two leopards, two tigers and one golden lioness... Oh and the little pug dog. Pakkun. "Hey," he said in that gravelly voice of his. "Am I glad I finally caught up to you guys… I met someone you should probably talk to."_

 _I could not hear the what the dog said afterwards, or what anyone else said… for the smell being carried to me on the breeze was familiar… very familiar. Then the lioness shifted. With a series of popping and snapping noises she rose up on two feet and smiled beatifically over at us._

 _She took a step towards one of the tigers, who had a huge pack belted around his middle. She opened it and pulled out a long homespun robe that she casually shrugged over herself and belted closed. The she turned and with palms upraised to show that she was unarmed, she headed towards this impromptu gathering of shinobi._

 _I could feel my heart thumping in my chest so hard it felt like it would explode. She was one of us… I inhaled deeply through my nose and caught their scents floating strongly above the pall of smoke. All of the cats… they were my kind… my people._


	17. Chapter 17

_The storyteller stared up at the first stars, twinkling in the night sky. "I watched this lioness approach and I felt a building excitement within me. All our lives, my brothers and I had been alone. There had never been anyone like us. We were treated like freaks, treated worse than animals… and all of a sudden we… we weren't alone."_

" _I turned to Mizako, a huge giddy smile blossoming on my face. If she was standing I probably would have grabbed her hands and danced. Instead I settled for hugging her, a wordless cry on my lips. Then I turned and ran, ran straight for this new woman. I ignored the orders of Ay, ignored the Inuzuka kunoichi's command to stop where I was. I ran to the lioness. She was laughing and smiling, she caught me up in her arms and swung me around and around and around… my braids flapping in the wind. I was surrounded by the smell of my people, a scent that called out to me from every cell of my body, a scent that spoke of care and love and safety. I rolled and covered myself in her scent in a frenzy of need, rubbing my head against her jaws and the lioness laughed again… The sound filled me with the warmest glow of comfort I had ever experienced."_

" _As I spun, I looked back, grinning at the spot where Mizako should have been…" The storyteller hugged herself and slowly shook her head. "A pair of Konoha shinobi were carrying her away. Four more, backed up by a small pack of growling dogs were ordering Ay and his companions to leave the area. A stony faced Tsume Inuzuka was stiffly marching across the field, walking towards me and these new arrivals with a suspicious expression." The storyteller sighed. "We were the only ones who were happy."_

Mizako sat on the Konoha side of the clearing and drew her knees up to her chest. She gave a single depressed sigh and watched the bustle of activity around her.

The arrival of the Tsukineko clan had caused much consternation amongst the gathered Konoha and Kuno shinobi. It wasn't every day you got to meet a legendary clan considered extinct for the past ten years.

The leader of the Tsukineko group, a tall, blonde, beautiful lioness named Akane, had an easy comfortable, manner and a ready smile that made her instantly likeable to everyone who met her. It probably shouldn't have surprised Mizako that Tohru and Yuki and Kyo formed such a strong attachment to this new woman so quickly. After all, they were going to find a home at last… a real home… not some dingy little hut in the middle of the woods. They were going to have 'real' parents to take care of them, not some barely adult, starry eyed idiot who could barely even take care of herself.

She sniffed and rubbed her nose on her sleeve, thankful that everyone else was too busy to see her blubbering. Tohru had looked so... happy when the Akane woman had shown up. She had danced and hugged Mizako with glee… and Mizako… well, all she could feel in return was a deep hollow emptiness inside.

It was almost the exact same feeling she had when she realized that her mother was gone.

Mizako sniffed again and wiped at her eyes some more. She wished Kushina was here, or Minato… she needed someone to talk to… and despite all the Konoha shinobi running around, she felt quite alone.

Even with the battle's chaotic aftermath as a readily available distraction, Mizako found it impossible to approach Ay, or Bee, or even Marui, who had gone along with Bee to… tactfully remind his brother that their father was due back any day now. She was surrounded by a small troupe of Leaf ninja. Either Tsume, a medical nin, or some other Konoha shinobi was constantly by her side trying to treat her for her chakra exhaustion, asking her for details on what happened, or simply 'protecting' her from those three 'very suspicious' Kumo nin who kept looking over at her all the time.

And then there was Kakashi… When she had thanked her brother's prize student for keeping the knowledge of her and Ay a secret, he had given her a very small nod of acknowledgement. "If you haven't yet already… you need to end it Mizako… If not for your sake… then for your brother's," he said in a low voice once he was sure no one else was listening. "If a hint of this got out… the rumors alone would destroy you." He looked across the meadow to where Ay sat, occasionally casting a glance in her direction. "I can't even contemplate what it would do to your brother. Do you know how many of his enemies in Konoha would love something like this? Do you know what they could do to him politically if news of this spread?"

Kira was spending most of her time sulking. Tsume had ordered her to stay well away from the Tsukineko clan members at all times. The Inuzuka ANBU girl had caught sight of the two male tigers in their human forms, going for a swim… and had some... issues about leaving them be after that.

Eventually Mizako's tears stopped, leaving only the sour taste of depression in her mouth. There was no one but herself to blame. She had ruined everything.

She had been the one to initiate this… this stupid relationship with Ay. She had been the one to insist that they meet time and time again. She was the one who had broken it to Tohru that no she wouldn't ever be the girl's mother. When Tohru had needed her the most, she had... lost herself completely. Instead of trying to save Tohru she had gone completely insane! Hearing voices, hallucinations… going mad with bloodlust... setting fire to everything and everyone in sight. It was no wonder the girl didn't want to be near her at all.

Gods… what was the matter with her? What was all that? Had she gone crazy?

There was a dull throb from her scar as the waves of loneliness crashed over her and pulled her out into a sea of despair. She couldn't do anything right. She was going to lose Tohru, Yuki and Kyo… and Ay … and possibly even her brother. Why hadn't she just sat down and thought things out? Why did she always have to jump into things with her heart unprotected and vulnerable? Why oh why after all these years was she still such a ignorant naive child? When would she ever learn that…

"Excuse me?" trilled a voice above her. "May I join you?" Mizako looked up into the tawny eyes of the lioness. "I have been eager to speak with you for quite some time Mizako-san," she said with a smile of gleaming white teeth, "and since you didn't approach me, well, I just had to come and see you."

"Sorry," Mizako mumbled, looking away from the woman. "I needed some time to recover and then…"

The woman smoothed her skirts and sat down next to her in one fluid motion. "There is no need to apologize to me Mizako-san, no need at all… In fact, I should be on my knees to you right now, thanking you for all you have done for us… you are a hero to our clan."

"Me? But I…"

"You rescued three of our children from a terrible fate. You fed them, clothed them, cared for them, taught them…" She smiled at Mizako and took her hands. "Have you recovered enough to walk? I would like to show you something."

Mizako frowned. "Well, yes, but I don't think Tsume-san wants me to wander away from the Konoha side of the clearing."

Akame gave her a small smile. "Oh, don't worry about that. I cleared it with Inuzuka-san. "She looked across the field to where Tsume was giving search orders to a group of shinobi and nin-ken. "A most remarkable kunoichi. I was expecting the stereotypical dog/cat rivalry to be more of an issue… Shall we go?" The lioness pulled her to her feet and set a quick pace through the edge of the forest.

They stopped in the shadow of the trees and watched. The cubs were chasing after the pair of panthers, romping through the slush and mud. The panthers shifted up to two legs, an athletic looking young man and woman with long black hair that fell in waves to her waist. She scooped up Tohru and spun her around in her arms.

Mizako felt a sharp pain of jealousy. "They look very happy," she said in a quiet controlled voice.

Akane nodded. "They are. For the first time, they are experiencing forging a bond with adults of their own kind." She looked down at Mizako's quizzical expression. "As we Tsukineko grow we build… connections with those around us. Infinitely long psychic threads, one might think of it, connecting us to all those that we know and hold dear," said the lioness with a smile. "And through these threads we can… sense that other person's chakra, feel what they feel… find them, no matter where they are."

Mizako watched Kyo and Yuki pounce on the male panther, sending him tumbling in the mud. He rolled and bounced back up to his feet laughing. "Is that how you tracked us down?" MIzako asked quietly.

Akane shook her head. "No." For the first time since meeting her, the lionesses' face creased in a frown. "Those three must have been whelped in the chaos following the fall of Uzushiogakure... If their parents or if any older siblings had survived, we would have been able to spare them much of the horror that was visited on them." She turned away from the cubs and looked back on Mizako. "We learned of them by pure chance. One lucky evening, less than two years ago, a member of our clan visited a drinking establishment where he overheard a wandering kunoichi who was deep in her cups. This kunoichi had seen three children who could change into lion cubs. They were being held as curiosities in a rich merchant's menagerie. For the price of two bottles of cheap sake, we had enough information to begin our search."

Akane leaned back against a towering oak. "One by one we found the men who had held them, bought them, traded them. We traced our way through four of these merchants, till we found a man who said he sold the trio of them to a group of masked shinobi."

"Did he happen to say where the shinobi were from? Who commanded them?" Mizako asked quietly.

"You know, we were very… thorough in our questioning… but no matter how persuasive we were, he was able to hold on to that small piece of information… almost as if someone had bound his tongue," Akane shook her head, "but we did get enough to follow the path of the caravan that was transporting the cubs." She grinned. "Imagine our chagrin when we discovered that someone else had ambushed them first."

"That wasn't exactly what happened…"

"I know. Kakashi-san explained it all to me… but still, you have to admit it was unbelievably fortuitous."

Mizako shrugged. "I guess... But really, we did what anyone would have done… I mean rescuing them would have really been second nature to any shinobi."

Akane tossed back her hair with a sweep of her hand. "Yuki is right about you. You do have an incredibly kind nature. Most shinobi would look at those three cubs and plan to rescue them, true… they might even be doing it partly for the cub's own benefit, but let us be honest here… at the same time they would be thinking how to turn this to their advantage. 'Why would these three be in a cage? What value do they have? How could they help my village?'" The lioness stood up from the tree. "The good fortune I am speaking of in their rescue is that you were the one to find them."

"I don't understand."

Akane reached out and touched Mizako on the shoulder. "As we Tsukineko grow… we need to form those bonds… the more the better. It's very difficult to have a beast inside of you… to have another side of yourself, snarling and pacing, every moment of every day… and the more comfort one has around you, the easier it is to accept this." She pointed across the clearing, to where Tohru was brading the female panther's hair. "You managed to find those three at a critical moment of their development. It is crucial that a cub knows that someone loves it, otherwise it is unable to love itself."

Akane folded her arms across her chest and looked back out to the frolicking cubs. "To live with the predator inside of us is a most difficult thing. It is very easy for one of us to resent the feline side, to hate it, to try to do battle with it even… and that is when bad things can happen. A cub can lose the ability to change from one form to another, they can become overwhelmed with depression… or worse…" She turned and looked back at Mizako. "All of us Tsukineko walk with one foot on the edge of madness. It is a sad day when one of us goes feral and has to be put down for the sake of the clan. It is through the bonds that we forge with others that we stay sane." Akane stared at Mizako with her golden eyes. "When you first met Tohru, how did she behave?"

"She was very scared… and quiet. We didn't even know that they could talk at first," Mizako mumbled.

"I'll bet she flinched every time someone made a sudden move or raised their voice," said Akane in a low voice. "I bet they were full of suspicion and hurt. I bet that they tested you and struggled with you, and possibly even struck out against you… Yet you gave them trust, and you gave them love. You showed them that people can be trusted." Akane shook her shoulder and smiled at her. "You helped them find their selfworth Mizako Namikaze… It's no wonder Tohru calls you 'mother'."

Mizako blushed. "I didn't encourage it."

Akane laughed. "One doesn't gain the title of mother by asking for it… Mizako-chan. It's something that must be earned… and according to the cubs, you deserve it." She clapped her hands sharply, a quick cutting retort that echoed amongst the trees.

Tohru Yuki and Kyo, stopped their playing and looked up. Then they began to run. "Mizako!" squealed Tohru, crashing into her at full tilt and knocking her back against a tree. "You're okay!"

"Of course I'm okay," she said with a slight gasp for breath as the girl squeezed her tight. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was worried," Tohru said meekly.

"You were worried?!' exclaimed Mizao in a joking voice. "I saw you attacking that masked kunoichi all by your lonesome! How do you think I felt?"

"I wasn't all by my lonesome," Tohru admonished as Yuki and Kyo came. "I had my brothers with me."

"It was her plan though," said Kyo with a proud grin. "I never thought that my little sister could dish out an ass kicking like that."

"I am not your little sister! We're the same age!" insisted Tohru.

"Kyo! Watch your language!" snapped Mizako. "Do you want your clan to think you were raised in a barn?"

Kyo rolled his eyes. "Eh… That was nothing. You should hear what Jiro over there says when he stubs his toe," he said angling his head towards one of the panthers in the background. "Anyway, where's Ay-sensei?" he said, craning his neck looking around. "I want to show him this neat move that I came up with."

Mizako's smile slipped. "Ay is…"

"Ay will be joining us shortly," interrupted Akane in a sweet voice.

"He will?" asked Mizako surprised.

"Oh, you'd be amazed what you can request and get away with when a village wants to open up diplomatic relations with you," said Akane dryly. "Besides… we need to discuss some sensitive things and it would be... best if we were all here together."

Ay sat at what could be called the Kumo side of the clearing and silently fumed. He was mad at his brother for embarrassing him in front of the war host of Kohona. He hated the way that Inuzkua war chief kept staring at him with a mixture of condescending amusement and disgust, like he was some puppy who just went all over a new carpet. But most of all he was angry at himself.

Here he was 'invincible' Ay, sitting in an enemy clearing, moping over an enemy kunoichi and three cubs... His father had a saying for moments like these: "Dreams are fine boy, they can give you the strength to strive for a better tomorrow… But if you want to survive today, learn to cope with the 'right now'."

He raised his head just a fraction of an inch and stared across the field. Somewhere through the smoke and crushed spider carcasses, behind the patrolling war dogs and suspicious faced Leaf shinobi, was Mizako. When the hordes of Konoha had arrived on the field of battle he had just stoically backed away, pretending nothing was wrong. He had done it because… well… what else do you do when you are in enemy territory, outnumbered and surrounded by enemy shinobi demanding answers? Once it was clear that the Copy ninja was going to cover for them, the least he could do was play along with the deception, wasn't it?

Ay sighed. Of course the little pip-squeak wouldn't see it that way. Gods, the look she had given him had pierced his heart. He was so tempted to go to her… It took almost all of his willpower to stand there impassively…

And then there were the cubs… they were leaving too… he rubbed his face with one hand. What was the matter with him? One little taste of family life and he was turning into a blubbering idiot. He had known this was never going to last. He had always known that this situation with Mizako... not even considering the cubs was only going to be a temporary thing… Those moments that they spent in that little dilapidated hut were… nice, but it was over... long past over. He was an idiot for ever entertaining the dream of…

"Yo, yo, big bro! Why you looking so low?" There was a loud thud as Bee sat down heavily next to him. "There ain't no use in waiting, get a move on, let's go!"

"We are waiting," Ay said in a low growl, "to see what the official response from Konoha is going to be. We will be in enough trouble with the Raikage as it is… An honorable Kumo shinobi would bring back their message and place it in the Raikage's hand. If we ran, and let the Hokage inform him of this treaty violation by bird, can you imagine what Father would do to us?"

Bee shivered. "Nothing good… He's a very scary man when he gets in the mood."

"Exactly," rumbled Ay, still watching the Konoha lines. "So we sit… and we wait."

There was a long pause as his brother studied him from behind his ever present sunglasses. "Want to have another rematch? I've gotten stronger you'll see! A good fight will cheer you up brother. Marui can referee!"

"No."

"Come on… No Eight Tails, no weapons, no jutsu, just you and me… hand to hand… best two out of three."

"No!" said Ay emphatically.

His brother gave him thirty seconds of blessed silence. "I could sing my rhymes, to help pass the times?" Bee asked hopefully.

"Don't you dare," muttered Ay.

"C'mon Brother, let the music flow, there's nothing better to help raise up your soul," said Bee thumping Ay on the shoulder..

"No singing!"

Bee studied his brother for a long pause, then he slowly smiled. "Oh, I never thought I'd live to see the day, my brother sitting and sulking in a major way," he freestyled quietly.

"Bee," said Ay warningly.

"So distressing to see, like a kicked puppy, how unhappy my mighty big brother could really be!" rapped Bee dodging away from Ay's grab, and scrambling to his feet.

"You will stop... now!" growled Ay, charging after him.

"Trickling down his cheek, each one a little pearl, I don't know what to say, Ay is crying like a girl!" laughed his brother, running away.

Five minutes later, Bee was in a stepover toehold facelock, slapping the ground furiously. "Uncle! Uncle!" he yelped.

"What was that Bee?" snarled Ay, cinching the hold tighter. "I couldn't hear you!" Bee was right, he did feel considerably better.

"I take it back! I take it back! You weren't crying like a girl at all! I take it back!"

Ay loosened the hold just a fraction of a centimeter. "Good."

From the ground, Bee grinned devilishly up at him. "Nope... No little girly tears for you… they were big manly… Urk!"

"Excuse me… Ay-sama?" came Marui's reproachful voice. "You have a visitor."

Ay stood to a great gasping laugh from Bee, which he ignored. Marui was standing with one of the Tsukuineko clan behind her. A thin, wiry man of average height with Salt and pepper hair and laughing green eyes. He took his stare away from Bee and gave Ay a short bow. "Ay-san, our leader Akane-sama requests your presence," he said in an amused voice. "She wishes to thank you for rescuing and caring for the cubs."

Ay folded his arms. "So? Why didn't she come here herself to thank me?" he asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

The Tsukuineko clan member grinned. "She wanted to have all of you together."

"All of us?" asked Ay, careful not to betray the eagerness in his voice.

The man's grin grew. "Akane took it upon herself to go and fetch Mizako-san for this meeting… The Leaf shinobi didn't want to let her attend at first but Akane can be most charming." He gave a little wave of his hand. "Come on now, surely you don't want to keep the cubs waiting do you? Every other word out of Kyo's mouth is how amazing you are."

The Tsukuineko man's name was Warau. He could change into a snow leopard, and he was constantly chatting and laughing. So far Ay had heard stories about his older brother, his younger sister, how his parents were wonderful people who had the foresight to bundle the entire family up and get away from Uzushiogakure just in the nick of time, and how his great grandfather had once met the first Hokage. Ay thought he would have run out of things to say by that point in the family tree, but Warau just took a deep breath and shifted to his extended family. "You must come from a very large clan," Ay commented when he could get a word in edgewise.

Warau laughed again. "You'd think so from the way I go on and on about them wouldn't you? The snow leopard is one of the smallest factions right now, there's only about twenty of us, but as my grandmother says: 'We may be small in numbers and influence, but we're big in spirit!'" He nudged Ay in a cordial, knowing way. "I'm a prime example of that... All of us snow leopards are just the friendliest folks you will ever meet! Well… except for my cousin," he said making a face. "He's the dour one in the family. My Aunt always jokes that he must also be able to shift into a hedgehog, he's so prickly."

"So family ties are very important to the Tsukuineko? asked Ay.

Warau smiled and nodded. "Oh... you have no idea… The bonds we form are what makes us who we are."

"Yes, you've mentioned that in one form or another… many times," said Ay. "What you haven't said is why you keep harping on the subject. What do these bonds have to do with me?"

Warau shrugged. "Not my place to tell you really… That's something you'll have to hash out with Mizako and the cubs… But I'm sure when the five of you get back together and you see how absolutely wonderful everything is, you'll come to the right decision!"

Ay stopped. "Excuse me?"

Warau winced. "Bugger… You didn't hear me say that."

"What am I deciding with Mizako and the cubs?" Ay growled testily.

"Well, would you look at that!" said Warau in an awed whisper, completely ignoring Ay's question. "That's a truly adorable sight… really melts your heart doesn't it?" Ay stepped forward as the Tsukuineko man pointed.

Yuki was sitting cross legged next to Mizako, describing some new clan sealing technique he had just been taught, Tohru was curled up in Mizako's lap, and Kyo… Kyo was leaning against one of the trees, a scowl on his face.

It was Mizako who looked up first. She saw him, started to smile and then quickly looked away. Tohru bounced up and greeted him with squeals, Yuki gave him an enthusiastic hug, and Kyo just sauntered up and said "Hey Sensei." But he grinned widely as he did so. The other five members of the Tsukuineko clan padded under the trees and sat down in a rough circle.

Ay sat and gave Mizako a cool nod. No more and no less than one would give to a shinobi from a rival village. "Namikaze-san," he muttered.

She returned the nod. "Ay-san."

Akane looked back and forth between them and her lips twitched upwards. "Well… I'm glad that we have the opportunity to gather together as a group. We have a very important matter to discuss… or should I say, three very important matters to discuss." The lioness waved a hand that encompassed the three cubs.

Ay tilted his head. "What is there to discuss? It seems fairly obvious that the cubs will be heading off with you." Aside from that first glance, he consciously decided he was going to ignore Mizako completely.

"What?" yelped Kyo. "Says who? I thought we were all going to live in Kumo?!" Kyo was staring at Ay with a look of genuine betrayal.

"My child," said Akane softly, "We spoke of this…"

"Yeah, I heard you mumbling about 'bonds' and 'threads'... You can take that mystical bullshit and shove it up your…"

"Language Kyo!" Mizako's voice cracked like a whip. Kyo closed his mouth and looked away furiously. Ay couldn't help but smile.

"Whether or not you believe it child doesn't make it any less true… Remind me to tell you sometime the tale of Tetsuo the black and what he did in his madness when all his bonds were taken away." Akane smoothed her robe and turned her focus away from Kyo. "The three of you have been most fortunate. You had siblings you could depend on, someone to share your experiences with… You had each other for the longest time… and together you became strong. Now, it is time that you added new voices, new friends to your circle."

"What about Ay and Mizako?" asked Yuki sullenly.

"Ay-san and Mizako-san are wonderful people, but you have to understand, Yuki, ten years ago, our home village was attacked and destroyed… Its people scattered to the four winds. The lucky ones were taken in by other villages as refugees from a war torn land… the unlucky were hunted, or enslaved… Only after five long years of running were we able to find a safe area for a new village. We can't have strangers there… and that is why..." the lioness spoke slowly and formally. Ay saw Mizako's shoulders tense. Of course the little munchkin would take it hard. She always got so emotional over the smallest things… He had the sudden urge to go over and try to comfort her… but here, now, in front of strangers and in a clearing full of rival shinobi… that would be foolish beyond belief.

Although he would never admit it, Ay found himself bracing for that moment also. This past week, living with Mizako and the cubs, had been some of the happiest, most fulfilling times he ever experienced… It really hurt to know that it was all over.

The clearing was suddenly silent. Ay shook himself out of his thoughts and looked up. Everyone was staring at him, the Tsukuineko, the cubs… the gaze he noticed the most was Mizako's. Her face was bright red and her mouth was hanging open. "Sorry, I was thinking about something else there," he mumbled. "What was the question?"

Kyo laughed. "She wants to know if you want to come live with us!" he shouted, gesturing wildly at Akane. "Dude! They want to make you both honorary members of the clan!"

Ay looked at Akane. The woman smiled. "Our clan does not have the highest birthrates... every Tsukuineko cub is considered a treasure, to be celebrated and cherished by the whole clan. Our children are… very precious to us, and you are very precious to them. We would consider it of the highest honor if you and Mizako would continue to help raise them. They chose you for their parents… we of the Tsukuineko have talked it over amongst ourselves and we would like the pair of you to continue that relationship."

Somehow, Ay found his voice. "How?"

The lioness shrugged. "By returning with us. Living with us. Teaching Tohru and Yuki and Kyo as they grow." Akane smiled. "We are a small weak village right now, still trying to rebuild from the after effects of the fall of Uzushiogakure. We can't afford to have knowledge of our location be made public… But, we could use skilled shinobi like you to add to our ranks. We could use ties to the major nations to strengthen us. We could use you…"

"You… you do realize who we are?" asked Ay, trying to recover from his shock.

Akane smiled. "You are from rival villages, sworn enemies, yet you do not let that corrupt the... affection you feel for each other… all the more remarkable because you are shinobi of no small importance. You would have the political connections to get us recognized. If you came with us, stayed to help in the raising of Tohru, Yuki and Kyo, you could help us to establish trade, diplomatic ties… who knows… maybe you will even be inclined to... add to your family?"

Mizako had never seen Ay at a loss for words before. His mouth opened and closed twice in shock. "And… and what did Mizako say to this?" he asked in a strangled voice.

"I haven't said anything yet Ay," Mizako said quietly.

"Well Ay-sensei? What do you think? Do you want to come and live with us?" asked Kyo eagerly. Yuki and Kyo's heads were whipping back and forth between her and Ay a lightning speed. Their faces were a mix of excitement and dread. Ay was looking at her and the cubs with a pained expression of longing. She knew exactly how he felt from what she went through with Tohru earlier.

Tohru...The thought of her made Mizako turn. The girl was sitting tightly next to her, her head bowed. Mizako slowly reached over and put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Akane-sama, I don't think it's fair…" Tohru's high pitched, clear voice rang through the clearing.

"What isn't fair Tohru?"

The girl slowly climbed to her feet. "It's not fair to force Ay and Mizako into making a decision like that. They have their own families and responsibilities to take care of in their own villages. You can't expect them to drop everything and come live with us."

Akane gave the girl a pleased nod. "Then what would you suggest we do Tohru?"

The girl folded her arms and stared at the lioness defiantly. "I think we should let them come and visit us… A few times a year… they could come, and stay for a week, and we could all be together for a bit, and then they could go back to their homes and we could stay and learn with you and then after a bit we could all get back together again…"

Akane tilted her head, appearing to think it over. "As much as I trust Ay and Mizako, I'm not sure our small village could afford to have it's location known just yet." She looked up at Mizako. "I'm not suggesting that you would willingly betray us… but you could be followed or tracked somehow."

All of a sudden a shiver of realization shot through Mizako. Clear as bright sunrise she saw the solution. "What about the hut? Near the fishing hole?" Mizako found herself suggesting. "We could meet there? All of us together… In the springtime?" She glanced in a shy, questioning manner over at Ay. His face was impassive as always, but his eyes sparkled.

Mizako walked back to the Konoha side of the clearing... alone once again, but happy. She was singing a jaunty little tune under her breath, "... for when the storm overhead seems to pull you to and fro, Just remember that the current takes you where you're supposed to go, so put your oars into the ocean and pull real hard and row… Oh the water spins ever on… And now we've finally found just where we're supposed to be, This loving land where we are safe and free, Fighting fate took us onward to our home's sandy shore, we'll never go wandering no more…"

"Isn't that the song that Kushina-san is always singing?" asked Kakashi appearing at her elbow.

"It is," said Mizako cheerfully.

Kakashi studied her through the eyeholes in his mask. "You appear to be in a very good mood," he stated suspiciously.

"I am."

They walked in silence for second or two. "Okay, I give up… Why?" asked Kakashi.

"Because," said Mizako brightly. "The Tsukuineko clan wants me to continue to take part in the cubs upbringing and to be some sort of unofficial ambassador for their dealings with Konoha."

Kakashi suddenly stopped. "And did they name any other 'ambassadors' in this meeting?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"As a matter of fact they did! They named the one for Kumo. It's Ay! Can you believe it?" Mizako began whistling again and started to walk off.

Kakashi grabbed her arm. "Mizako… Stop. You are not taking this seriously… You can not keep throwing yourself into this position where you and the Raikage's heir are…"

"What position?" she asked Kakashi, eyes innocently wide, "Why whatever are you talking about? This is a purely political appointment, and not even a major one that… Of course, it all depends on my brother's approval."

"If you don't tell the Hokage about this Mizako, I will. He deserves to know."

"Oh, I'll tell him. I'll tell him everything that happened. From the botched ANBU mission, to the masked shinobi who appeared to be from Konoha, to how Ay came to our rescue when we needed it," she said with a very pointed look at Kakashi.

The tiger mask turned away. "He was… helpful... once or twice," Kakashi grudgingly admitted.

Mizako tossed her braids behind her shoulders. "And we managed to spend a whole week together, alone in the woods and he didn't once murder me in my sleep or eat any children!" she said in a snarky voice.

Kakashi exhaled. "Look… Mizako… this is about much more than whether Ay is a good man or not… He's a Kumo shinobi. You are a Konoha shinobi. The elders of Konoha would have a stroke if they found out!"

"If... they find out," said Mizako with an impish smile.

Kakashi groaned. "Mizako… You're living in a dream world. Every secret gets out eventually!"

"Eventually," said Mizako jumping on that word. "It will get out... eventually… but it doesn't have to get out today… or tomorrow… or for a very long time." She reached out and pulled on his sleeve. "Minato is trying to lead us towards a new era of peace and prosperity… who's to say that we won't be at peace with Kumo one day?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't believe this."

"If my brother ever asks, I swear I'll tell him the truth."

Kakashi whirled to face her. "This isn't about Minato-sensei finding out… Like I told you before this is about what will happen to him if word gets out that his little sister is romantically entangled with the Raikage's son!"

Mizako kept smiling at him. "Pakkun won't say anything. Kira won't say anything…"

"Unlike Pakkun, you can't bribe me to keep my mouth shut with steak," Kakashi snarled. "When we get back to Konoha, I'm telling your brother." He turned and started to walk away.

"You know, the last time Jiraiya-sensei came by to visit, he left a bunch of papers behind," Mizako said loudly. "They look like they're part of an unfinished manuscript." Kakashi froze in his steps. "I read the working title… I think he's thinking of calling it 'Make out violence' or something like that." She watched him carefully. "I was going to throw it away, but I could give it to you... if you're interested?"

She stood at the edge of the clearing and watched as Tohru, Kyo and Yuki left with their clansmen. One by one they all shifted into large cats and began to lope away. Tohru turned back to wave as she sank down on her paws. Mizako smiled and waved as well as the lion cub ran to join the rest of her pride.

When she couldn't see them any more, she turned. On the other side of the clearing Ay, Bee and Marui were heading off as well. Clutched tightly in her hand was a small scrap of paper that one of Marui's summoning squirrels had delivered as night fell. "Can we meet before the spring?" She smiled and gave Ay a nod. She just knew that everything was going to work out… Maybe not perfectly, but good enough.

" _... And that is how my tale ends," the storyteller said softly. "My brothers and I found our way back home." She took a deep breath and sighed. "It may not have been the home that we dreamed of at the time, but it was a good home… good enough."_

 _The fire was almost completely cold and dead by now. About half the parents were helping sleepy cubs to their feet, picking up those that were too tired to walk… bringing them all to their warm beds. The other half were lining up, bringing their cubs forth to thank her for the tale._

 _One of the first faces was a familiar one. "Thank you very much for the story Tohru-sempai!" said the the blonde haired girl cub with a most polite bow. "It was instructive."_

 _The storyteller smiled at the girl. "You are most welcome Akara-chan." She glanced up at the cub's mother. "She is the spitting image of you Akane-sama."_

 _Akane gave a small chuckle. "Polite as always Tohru." The adult lioness leaned forward and put her hand on the storyteller's shoulder. "You did a wonderful job telling the story. I'm very proud of you," she whispered in the storyteller's ear. "I'm sure Mizako would have been proud of you as well."_

 _The storyteller looked away. "Thank you," she whispered in a voice thick with emotion. The next few well wishers received nothing but smiles and thankful nods as the storyteller blinked rapidly to keep the tears away._

 _At the very end of the line, the green eyed girl cub clutched tightly to her mother's hand, stubbornly trying to stay awake. "Katsuki has a question she insists on asking you," the woman said in an apologetic voice, nudging her daughter forward._

 _The storyteller straightened and shot a glance over at the girl's father, the Guardian of the Walls. He was just on the edge of earshot holding the cub's sleeping sister. Tohru smiled at the yawning girl. "Yes?" she asked._

" _Um… It was a good story but, um… There wasn't an ending!" she complained in the cranky voice of a cub who is overtired. "Not really… You just came home and that was it!"_

 _The storyteller smiled knowingly. "Sometimes, in real life, that's how stories end. Everything doesn't always tie up neatly."_

" _But that's not fair! What happened to Ay and Mizako? Did they ever come to be your Mommy and Daddy?" said the girl with a frustrated look on her face._

 _The storyteller's smile slipped a little bit. "No… No they never did."_

 _The girl cub picked up on the sadness in her voice. "Why not?" she asked with owlish curiosity._

 _Tohru took a deep breath. "That… is a tale for another time."_

" _But it's still part of the story!" insisted the girl, giving a shake of her head._

 _The storyteller leaned forward and mussed her brown hair, toying for a moment with a snow white curl that tumbled down her forehead. "You strike me as a very clever cub… I bet you've noticed that by now, that stories can blend together and split apart. From the chaff of one story sprouts the seedlings of another… Who knows," said the storyteller giving the cub one final pat on the head, "maybe you will have your own story someday?"_

 _The girl cub's green eyes closed as she yawned hugely. "I wanna hear about Ay and Mizako!" she insisted again._

" _Another time, I promise," said Tohru. "You need to go off to bed." The girl's mother managed to gently pull her away._

" _You did well Tohru," said the Crone as she hobbled up behind the storyteller. "You did very well indeed."_

" _Thank you Honored one," said Tohru, mumbling with her head bowed._

" _How was the actual telling of the tale? Did you enjoy it?"_

 _Tohru nodded. "I think…" she paused and exhaled. " I think I did honored one… Yes, I think I did."_

" _Good, " said the old woman her smile revealing neat white teeth. "You always worked well with the cubs, but some had concerns that you were too quiet, that you kept yourself too apart, but with this... I think we may have convinced those doubters we found the right place for you." She took a few steps closer and lay a withered hand on her shoulder. "You are growing up into such a fine, responsible young lady… Your mother would no doubt be proud of you."_

" _Thank you for saying so Honored one." Tohru watched the matriarch hobble away on the arms of her aides. She sat in the darkness, waiting for her final visitor to show himself. Finally, after an extended period of time, she sighed. "I can smell you sneaking up on me Kyo," she said testily. "I really hope you're not this careless when you're out hunting."_

 _There was the crackle of snapping branches. "Hey, you're finally getting better at that," her brother called from the tree line._

" _There's only so many times you can jump out and scare me before I start expecting it everywhere I go," she grumbled._

 _Kyo shrugged. "Ay-sensei would have wanted you to stay aware and on top of things." Her brother entered the clearing and padded towards her. Their new life in the village agreed with him. All the meals had packed at least ten kilos of solid muscle on his now stocky frame. He was considered one of the more promising up and coming hunters in the village._

 _He wandered over and sat down next to her. "Good story sis… though I don't know why you had to make me out to be such an idiot."_

 _She smiled. "That's because you are a idiot. I don't know what Aki sees in you." Aki was a young female lioness who Kyo had been paying an awful lot of attention to lately._

 _She could smell Kyo blushing in the dark. "Ha ha," he said in a flat dry way. He sat with her in silence for a while and watched the stars come out, one gleaming jewel at a time. "So… Yuki should be done with his turn on the wall… You want to head back and have dinner with him so he can bore us to death babbling on and on about his sealing jutsu and healing lessons and other crap?"_

" _No," said Tohru stretching out and looking up at the sky. "I think I'll just… sit here and think for a while."_

 _Kyo gave her a sideways glance. "Are you sure?"_

 _Tohru nodded. "I'm sure."_

" _Okay then," said Kyo, bounding to his feet. He started to walk away and then stopped. "You know… If you'd rather have company… I can wait..."_

 _Tohru waved him away. "Go eat with Yuki. I'll be there soon."_

 _Tohru sat alone in front of the dead fire. She turned her face into the calm evening breeze and began to undo her braids. She hummed as she brushed her hair out smooth. "And now we've finally found just where we're supposed to be, This loving land where we are safe and free, Fighting fate took us onward to our home's sandy shore, we'll never go wandering no more…" she sang quietly._

 _She smiled as her fingers flew, dividing her hair into three parts and lacing it back together again. "We'll never go wandering no more, no more! We'll never go wandering no more!"_

 _The last note echoed in the clearing, and Tohru started to cry._


	18. Chapter 18

Epilogue 1, Mizako:

"...and worst of all, the international political fallout from this fiasco is destroying the negotiations for peace treaties with the other nations. Hidden Stone has already pulled out of the talks because of this 'disturbing development'... The Raikage and Mizukage are also demanding the 'hypocritical punitive concessions' for past violations of sovereignty be stricken from the treaty because, apparently, Konoha is regularly undertaking missions no worse that any they did in the past," said the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, tossing the mission report down on his desk. "I want them found… I want each and every one of the shinobi involved in this travesty to face justice… all of them… not just the foot soldiers." He leaned over his desk and stared at his small group of advisors. "The forced abduction of children is unacceptable in any circumstances… Do I make myself clear?" Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane gave him a short polite bow to acknowledge his order, but one of his councilors met his glare with a cool steady gaze.

Danzo Shimura had made a reputation for himself by being unemotional and taking this into account, Minato felt that even the notably stone-faced commander of the ANBU should have shown some reaction… if for no other reason than to attempt to allay suspicion on himself.

But no, the man just sat there, his one good eye gleaming with satisfaction, so sure of his position, hiding behind his political clout, daring the Hokage to call him out on this… Had he no honor? Had he no shame?

" _Damn the man to deepest depth of the nine hells,_ " Minato thought to himself.

"If you were to ask my opinion on this matter," Danzo said in a dry voice with the overtone that indicated the Hokage was a fool to ignore his advice, "you shouldn't be so hasty to condemn your fellow Leaf shinobi Hokage-sama. What definitive proof do we have that Konoha ninja were even involved in this… incident?"

"None," said Minato in a cold voice, "except for the eyewitness accounts of multiple Land of Fire citizens and the sworn testimony of three Leaf shinobi and one Kumo shinobi, corroborating that they happened upon what appears to be a well organized platoon of shinobi in the process of abducting three children. When these aforementioned shinobi attempted to rescue said children, the abductors attacked them with what was clearly Konoha clan jutsu in the marketplace of a farmers village."

Koharu Utatane cleared her throat. "I beg your pardon Hokage-sama, but I have heard nothing that necessarily proves shinobi from our village were involved in the abduction."

"My esteemed fellow advisor brings up a very valid point Hokage-sama," said Homura Mitokado in his deep, scholarly voice. "Jutsu can be stolen, or imitated. Their use cannot be considered concrete evidence."

The Hokage tapped the file on his desk. "In his report, Captain Tora of the ANBU stated that one of his opponents was using the Hyuga jukken fighting style successfully enough to require having a byakugan."

Danzo shimura pursed his lips. "If you will recall, Hokage-sama, it has long been suspected that the Hidden Mist village obtained a functional byakugan in the last war… I sent you a memo about that… and a request for an assassination mission... which you completely ignored."

"An assassination mission which I do recall you saw fit to send out anyway," Minato said curtly. "And may I remind you, that little assassination mission of yours required three extra squads to be dispatched into hostile territory for the sole purpose of rescuing your original team."

Danzo shrugged. "Missions fail… It is a fact of life. Ruining plausible deniability by making a huge scene trying to rescue those who fail… well, if you had sought my opinion there, I would have advised against it. " Minato didn't say a word, he just stared at the ANBU Commander. Danzo stared right back.

Koharu interrupted the tense silence. "If we may get back to the matter at hand?" She turned to Minato. "Hokage-sama, if other villages are using this… terrible rumor as an excuse to pull out of negotiations, rather than feed these… horribly untrue rumours by launching an investigation, perhaps we should start by looking elsewhere for the culprits? What could a Leaf shinobi possibly hope to gain from an incident like this one?"

"That is a very good question," muttered Minato, still staring at Danzo Shimura. "I do wonder."

Koharu and Homura exchanged a worried glance. "Before we do anything so rash as accusing our fellow shinobi on such… flimsy evidence, perhaps we should have put an internal investigation on hold, while we look at the possibility of this being an enemy mission formed to discredit Konoha?" The aging woman rubbed her hands together briskly. "An elaborate conspiracy like this one smells of Onoki to me. The Hidden Stone is well known for their treachery, and he did use it as an excuse to pull out of your talks…"

"I would be far more likely to suspect the Mist," piped in Homura. "Given the bloody history of that place, the abduction and torture of a few stray children would be right up their alley."

"Interesting theories," said Minato quietly. He stopped for a moment and then stared pointedly as the Commander of the ANBU. "What about you Danzo-san? Do you have any theories as to who would be so... cold and conniving to come up with such a plot?"

Danzo looked up, his lips twitching in a flicker of amusement. "Personally… I would direct my attention to the Hidden Cloud. I find that story of the Raikage's son getting lost in a snowstorm and happening to cross the border to be patently ridiculous… the man is obviously a spy."

Minato smiled. "A spy? Really? Ay is two meters tall, weighs over a hundred kilograms and armors himself in lightning, pride and honor… What about him indicates to you that he would be skilled at subterfuge?"

Danzo stiffened almost imperceptibly at the Hokage's mocking tone. "Subterfuge? You misunderstand me Hokage-sama. I was not suggesting that Ay would be the one gathering the information… I was speculating that he would be the courier, the means of transport for a packet of intelligence."

"You suspect that there is a spy in our midst?" asked Homura in a shocked voice. "Who could possibly betray Konoha?"

"An excellent question," said Danzo in a cold rasp. "Perhaps we should ask Mizako Namikaze… She has encountered the Raikage's son several times... has she not?"

Minato stared at the top of his desk for a moment and then slowly stood. "Koharu-sama, Homura-sama… would you be so good as to leave? I need to speak to Danzo-sama on a sensitive matter… alone."

The two aged councillors exchanged a second glance. "But Hokage-sama, we still need to discuss…"

"Now!" said Minato in a voice that left no argument.

* * *

Danzo stared blankly up at the Hokage as Koharu and Homura got up and slowly shuffled out the door. So the young Hokage wanted to speak to him alone did he? Danzo would have grinned, if he had been the sort of man who smiled. As the door to the Hokage's office shut with a click, he wondered if Minato would try to bluster or beg his way out of the pit he had found himself in.

"You will never impugn my sister's honor in my presence again," said Minato in an icy voice. "She cares for this village far more than some I could name."

Ahh… bluster it would be then… "Impugn her honor? Why my dear Hokage, you misunderstood me… I simply thought that with those superb observational skills Mizako demonstrated, supposedly noticing all those trifling little details about those... awful masked shinobi, that your dear sister might be able to help us identifying any possible traitors… that is all." Danzo leaned back in his chair and studied the Hokage, wondering how much of his little sister's activities he suspected. "Just say the word... I can have an interrogation squad ready for a mind scan in half an hour."

Minato drummed his fingers on his desk, but kept his face unreadable. "There are many in Konoha who would argue that taking action without proper orders from your Hokage is a form of treason."

Danzo shrugged. "During the second war, we called that taking initiative."

"But we are hardly at war."

"That is where you are wrong Hokage-sama," said Danzo leaning forward. "Our enemies are all around us sharpening their knives and waiting to strike! All this talk of treaties and negotiations is simply their way of putting us off guard!"

Minato frowned thoughtfully. "So you would argue that intrigue and war are cut from the same cloth… that politics is simply a continuation of war by other means."

"Obviously," Danzo said with a nod. Thank the Gods, was the headstrong young hero finally starting to understand?

"And that we ourselves should be using moments like these to marshal our strength? Planning to attack our enemies first? Before they have a chance to attack us?"

"Exactly!" Danzo gave his cane a sharp knock on the floor.

"You sad, pathetic, old man," Minato said in a bitter voice. "You are so blinded by your own fears and prejudices that you would gladly lead this world into war without end."

Danzo felt a surge of rage, but he quickly tamped it down. "Ahh… the arrogance of youth. I'll have you know that I was serving in this position when you were still in diapers! The Third Hokage himself appointed me!"

Minato folded his arms. "I... am not the Third Hokage."

"No… you most certainly are not," said Danzo, the hint of a sneer creeping into his voice. "Like you, Hiruzen also liked to pretend that he was oh so noble and pure… but the Third Hokage also had the wisdom to recognize that some deeds needed to be done in the darkness… without anyone the wiser… including himself."

"What Hiruzen-sensei chose to accept was his perogative." Minato leaned forward resting his knuckles on the desk. "I have chosen to take the governance of Konoha in a different direction." He turned and stared out the window. "I will allow you to resign your position with honor. Konoha owes you that much for your years of service."

Danzo's hand clenched around the head of his cane. "Thank you," he said in a dry sarcastic voice. "I wonder what Konoha will feel like it owes its Hokage when it hears how his sister is spreading her legs for the enemy?"

Minato raised his eyebrows. "That is your counter threat? Really? It is common knowledge that Mizako has been in love with Maito Guy since she was twelve years old. I expected better from you."

Danzo folded his arms. "I wonder which tale would impact the fine citizens of Konoha more? That Danzo Shimura rightfully purchased three foreign orphan brats for the noble goal of bettering the Leaf? Or that Mizako Namikaze is acting like a common whore, grunting and squealing underneath the Raikage's heir?" The ANBU commander shook his head sadly. "It is truly unfortunate how titillating tales stick in the minds of the masses."

The Hokage grew very still. "So you finally admit to your part in this international incident?"

"I admit to nothing. If you wish to charge me with some sort of crime and force me out of office then by all means… go ahead and do so." Danzo tilted up his head proudly. "But if I am called to a hearing, I shall have no recourse but to reveal to the judges everything I know." There was a long pause as he and the Hokage stared at each other. "It seems to me that we are at an impasse in this negotiation."

There was the sharp pop of displaced air and the Hokage suddenly vanished. Danzo started to rise from his chair when a hand landed heavily on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "No," said Minato in a quiet deadly hiss. "You are quite wrong. We are not at an impasse."

Danzo felt a nervous bead of sweat begin to drip down his forehead. " _Damnation_ ," he thought to himself. " _When did he mark me with a transportation jutsu seal?_ "

"Furthermore this is not a negotiation," continued Minato. "This is me showing you every ounce of mercy I can for the sake of your past friendship with Hiruzen-sama. You talk of intrigues and war being one and the same? You had an Uzumaki sealing witch leading that party to kidnap three cubs who could, conveniently enough, unravel sealing jutsu! How stupid do you think I am? You plot to seize control of the Nine Tails! You plot against my wife! Mizako told me that the very same kunoichi said she had orders to make it look like my sister was raped and murdered by Kumo shinobi in order to restart a war between our villages!" The Hokage leaned down closer so he could whisper in ANBU commander's ear. "It is well known that you hunger for power…and that you are willing to sink to whatever depths you must to get it. But this time, this time what you did went far beyond mere political differences Danzo-sama… You went far beyond your usual unsavory deals… You dared to threaten my family."

There was a gut churning disorientation of direction and space and Danzo found himself standing in the open air, the wind howling around his ears, and the scenic view of Konoha yawning before them. Danzo blinked at the bright sunlight, and involuntarily tried to take a step back, but Minato held him firmly in place. They were standing on top of the Hokage monument, right on the edge of one of the statue heads.

Above the wind he heard the whisper of steel as a kunai was drawn from a scabbard. "I can find you no matter where you are hiding. I can take you away before any of your guards can react. I can even visit you in your sleep. Do not think that I won't hesitate to cut you down, the moment I get the slightest hint that you move against them again," the Hokage growled in his ear. "Am I making myself clear?" Danzo nodded. "Good," said Minato coldly. "As of right now, you are no longer Commander of the Leaf's ANBU unit. I will announce your retirement tomorrow." The Hokage let go of his shoulder and Danzo took a step backwards away from the edge. "Do yourself a favor," said Minato, "and stay well out of Leaf politics." There was another loud whoosh and the Hokage was gone.

Danzo sagged back against the cliff and closed his eyes. The only outward sign of his boiling rage was that he slammed his cane once against the stone, splintering it into a hundred bamboo shards that rattled down the cliff face to rain on the village below. "That was disappointing," he muttered, the sudden flare of anger fading as quickly as it came. "But it changes nothing in the long run… I always knew Minato would have to be… removed."

He turned and began the steep ascent to the top of the huge stone bluff to find the long pathway back. "The problem now, it that something will have to be done about the sister at the earliest opportunity… She's seen too much. She's become a liability… That tale of hers needs to disappear… and on top of it all, now I need something that takes her out of the equation, but doesn't kill her outright…"

Danzo sighed. Minato was very wrong. He had nothing against the Hokage, or his family. The only thing that mattered to him was the safety of the Hidden Leaf village. Couldn't anyone else see that? In this shinobi world, if Konoha wanted to survive, it would have to be more ruthless and vicious than its enemies. If Konoha wanted to survive he, Danzo Shimura, would have to be at its head. No other man in the Hidden Leaf had his vision, his capacity for diligence. Only he had the stomach to play the game of politics the way it was meant to be played, unlike that fool Hiruzen and his lackey Minato.

Danzo curled his lip in disgust and he stepped around a rather large rock that blocked the path. Minato no doubt saw him as just some sort of manga villain. A power hungry monster who for cared nothing other than his own well being. Nothing could be further from the truth!

If all he wanted was power, it would be so easy to seize it. He commanded more than enough shinobi to start a coup. The odds were very good that he would even succeed. But a revolution would leave Konoha and the the Land of Fire, divided and poor. It would take decades to rebuild and quell all the unrest that would result. No… he would have to move slowly and carefully if he wanted to realize his dream.

Danzo worked tirelessly for this long term goal: To see the Land of Fire stretch its reach over the whole globe, ruling all, a benevolent empire where all the people of the world worked together for the common good.

He could only think of only one example of a man fit enough to lead such an empire.

Just to keep Konoha safe… that was his sole objective, not war with Kumo, not the Nine Tails… everything else was just a means to that objective. Although the loss of the Uzumaki priestess had been a considerable blow, having the Nine Tails under his control had been a cornerstone of his plans. He made a mental note to ask Orochimaru if anything could be salvaged from Majo's ruined body. Perhaps if they could snatch a few ova before she finally perished, they could gestate a new Uzumaki… yes… that might be worth the effort. A child would be much easier to… condition than an adult.

First, however, he would need to find some way to work his way back into the upper echelons of power. Something that would ingratiate himself with the Daimyo perhaps? That would work… Even a Hokage has to answer to his orders. He would write a letter to the leader of the Land of Fire as soon as he returned home. He would be well watched now, of that he had no doubt. It would be very hard for him to take physical action… but surely no one would begrudge and old man writing a few words to an old friend. Words were so much easier to get away with, and in some cases, so much more effective.

He pondered potential schemes for his entire trek back to Konoha. He had to pause right outside the northern gate to let a large procession pass. It was a wedding party, a young bride and groom, being lead on by a huge line of well wishers, musicians, and lantern holders. It was a well planned out tasteful display, and from the solemn, unenthusiastic looks on the bride and groom's faces, probably a completely arranged affair. It was common place for elders to arrange marriages between clans in the hopes of building alliances.

When the idea for the plan struck him, his uncovered eye went wide. With a spring in his step, he hurried back to the Shimura compound and went to his spartan office. Danzo ended up writing two letters, one to the Daimyo and one to the Tsuchikage. This would be perfect. How on earth could Minato refuse? After all, wasn't he always going on and on about how they had to build new ties and new treaties with rival villages?

He almost wished he was the sort of man who laughed... but he wasn't.

* * *

Minato stood in his office, staring silently out the window at the village… his village. When he became Hokage, he had sworn an oath to protect serve and defend it… On his desk was a single open file. A manilla folder, thick with single spaced sheets of typewritten paper. Attached with a paperclip to the inside cover was a single photograph of a burly, tanned blonde young man in a Kumo uniform.

What had Mizako done this time?

What was going through his little sister's mind? Did she honestly think that he wouldn't be able to find out? Kakashi and his ANBU squad's official report had been… unusually sparse... deliberately vague, which was both extremely worrisome and rather comforting at the same time, if he thought about it. How was he supposed to effectively manage the Hidden Leaf if he didn't have all the information he needed to do so? On the other hand it was nice to know that Mizako inspired such loyalty in her comrades that they were willing to put themselves on the line for her.

Even though Kakashi was willing to cover for Mizako's follies, others... were not so discrete. Minato had just had to go over to the Inuzuka compound and have a short informal visit with his former classmate, Tsume. He knew that she could be trusted not to spread unfounded rumours, but he knew that she could also be trusted to tell him the truth.

"You should have seen him, Minato… That Kumo nin was twitching like a nursing bitch when you're handling her two week old pups. He jumped with every whimper of hers while the medic was putting salve on her burns. I don't know what happened between them while they were living in the woods with those cubs, but I pity any fool stupid enough to try to hurt her in his presence." She flashed him that feral grin of hers. "I wouldn't worry too much about that one… He kept his distance and put on a good show, but you can't lie with your scent the way you can lie with your body language, and that young man's smell was all about her." Tsume's grin faded quickly, to be replaced by a worried frown. "Of course… the bigger problem is that Mizako's scent was also all about him."

Minato ran his fingers through his already unkempt hair, making it more of mess than usual. Mizako… Gods... what had she done?

If he closed his eyes, he could still remember that night. That night where the Military police had come to their house to tell them that their mother was missing, presumed dead. He had gathered the crying little girl, up in his arms and taken her back to her bedroom, holding her tightly in his arms all night long. He could still remember the feverish warmth of the little body against his chest, shaking from sobs too big for the small throat they were trying to escape from. She fell asleep just before sunrise, exhausted from grief and tears, but he had stayed next to her, holding her hand, stroking her hair. As the first rays of the sun had shone in through the window, he had sworn that he would never let anything else bad happen to her again. He would protect her from all harm.

When she had entered the academy, he had worried so much. She was fast, oh yes, her speed could almost match his… but her chakra was a wild untamed force that she could barely control. The simplest of jutsu had a tendency to explode in her face, resulting in yet another quick trip to the Konoha hospital. One time, in desperation, sitting once again at the foot of her cot, seeing her hands swathed in gauze, he had toyed with the idea of asking Kushnia to seal a part of it away, stunt the power raging inside of her before it could turn into a wildfire and devour her.

It was Kushina who had talked him out of it. She had encouraged him to teach her to dam it instead, arguing that deliberately crippling her chakra like that would only serve to destroy what small control she had.

She had grown. She had learned. Slowly she began to master her strength. She had become a kunoichi, finding her own way. She made him proud, made him worried, infuriated him… she pushed him from one emotion to another in the blink of an eye.

And now… now… It was clear that she wasn't a child… not anymore.

She had fought, and emerged victorious. She had faced a nightmare and vanquished it. She had unleashed her power and controlled it… or close enough.

Minato turned away from the window and leaned his knuckles on his desk. Gods... there were still so many things he meant to teach her. He had spent so many years trying to shield her from life's bitterness… she had enough of that as a child. Minato blamed himself for those rose colored glasses his little sister wore sometimes.

There were so many ugly life lessons that she had yet to learn. There were so many things about the world that she had only seen the sweet, light sides of… And now here she was… walking down a dark, dangerous path, innocently whistling all the while, thinking no one was the wiser… and all the while the political wolves were sniffing the air, starting to circle, stalking her.

Gods damn it… Danzo had been telling the truth… Well maybe not the exact 'truth', but close enough to be worrisome. The head of the Shimura clan had an uncanny talent for twisting words and stories and situations around until they all came out in his favor.

The foul old man was right. The people of Konoha would gleefully jump all over a juicy scandal, and conveniently ignore an ugly truth.

Minato shook his head. Since her return she had been so cheerful… happy. She was smiling and reminding him over and over how she was an ambassador now… he would have to call her 'ambassador Namikaze'... Her happiness was a song she danced to without even realizing it. She never even thought about how visible it was to anyone else. It was so obvious to anyone who saw her… she was in love.

Thank the Gods it was still a secret whom she was in love with… mostly.

The photo of Ay was still staring up at him from dossier. "Why did it have to be you?" Minato asked in a whisper "Why?"

The picture of Ay just sat there with a serious frown and a cold stare. He slammed the file closed… hard. Hard enough that his whole desk shuddered, causing the picture of him and Kushnia to jump and fall off the edge. He leapt over the desk and caught it before it could hit the ground.

He exhaled with relief to see it wasn't damaged. That one was one of his favorites. He and Kushina, together at the spring festival. A photographer had surprised them, taken the picture and in an extremely pushy way, tried to sell it to them for 30 ryo. Minato bought it.

Kushina hated the picture. She was wearing an out of fashion, inexpensive kimono. She also had a piece of cotton candy stuck in her hair. Minato was struggling to carry the huge teddy bear he had insisted he win for her, and had soy sauce spilled down the front of his yukata. Despite the furious scowl Kushina was making at having her picture taken, it had been a wonderful day. When night fell, they had kissed for the first time underneath the celebratory fireworks.

Kushina never heard about what was awaiting Minato when he got home that evening. Both his mother and father gave him a stern lecture about 'clan duty' and 'honor.' About how he was one of the proud Namikaze clan, and he had 'standards' to uphold. They were very descriptive about Kushina, many words were used like 'orphan' and 'effectively clanless.' As the discussion grew more and more heated, other terms for her began to rear their ugly head. "That red-headed jinchuriki," was tossed about several times… but it was when his mother had sobbed out, "I can believe you would throw away all your clan ties in exchange for that… that monster!" that he had gotten up and silently walked away… One of the few times in his life he could not be the dutiful son.

Minato sighed and put the picture back on his desk. He sat down heavily in his chair and began to absent-mindedly swivel back and forth. The smart thing to do would be to call Mizako in here right now and reveal that he knew everything. Order her right now to stop this folly she had entwined herself in. Make her see that this madness is endangering both her own position and, to a lesser extent, the whole village…

Make her obey the exact rules that he himself was unwilling to follow… The Hokage knew his little sister well… She would never forgive him.

Minato rubbed his nose, praying that the fear of his wrath would be enough to keep Danzo Shimura in line for a while. He was torn between duty to his village and duty to his family. This was going to be almost impossible to resolve cleanly.

* * *

Deep in his steaming cavern, Kokuo, the five tails, rested his huge horned head on his hooves, and brooded.

Once again, he was trying to focus on the song of the stars as they wheeled about in their eternal journey throughout the blackness of space… and once again he could not hear their music clearly… there was another song… twisting... itching at the back of his mind.

The moment he decided to save the miserable life of the stupid vermin Mizako, a link had been formed. He had saved her on a sudden impulse... even now he couldn't fully understand why.

She had found him chained and helpless, and she didn't turn away. She had looked on him and seen him truly. Instead of horror and loathing, the music of her mind had called forth a tune of empathy and pity and even admiration. He had seen her decision to save him, to set him free.

He despised her charity… but to be rescued by a human had been such an unexpected event that he felt… that he owed her something. And now this debt he paid was coming back to haunt him.

He didn't know how or why but now, he could hear her song too, like a distant annoying hum, vibrating inside his skull. Her small human consciousness was echoing with its own song, intertwining with the song of the stars, weaving harmonics and dissonances in the melody that had lulled his soul for eons...

In the beginning it had been easy to ignore. A little itch that would fade. As time went on though, there came moments where there would be a sharp prickle from the the little insect mind. Some emotions she would feel stronger than others and the echoes of them leaked back across their shared link. Those had been… interesting. Interesting enough that he started to await them with first curiosity... and then anticipation.

And then… then, there had been that one moment where she had managed to reach out to him, to join him under the song of the stars. Her fear, her despair had been strong enough to open a pathway and his curiosity had led him down it, inside the dark corners of her weak little human mind, where she had managed to appear before him on the psychic plane. For a brief moment in time, she had let him ride inside her head.

The music they had made together was glorious. It was terrifying. It was delicious. She had sung to perfection with him for a few precious notes. It was the song of fear and rage and destruction and death.

And then, abruptly… it was done. It was over. There had been a sharp mental shove and he was back in his own head again… alone.

Kokuo snorted loudly and shifted in his lair. He was being stupid. It was stupid to think so much of the Mizako. He should go and find her, crush her under his hooves, then he could have his precious silence back. Then he could hear the stars clearly! That vermin that had come to him was as worthless as all those other humans that only dreamt of enslaving him… a pathetic little insect… nothing more… Nothing!

The itch started growing again, right in the back of his brain. Something was happening to her something that made her feel. It was a message, a message from the vermin known as Ay. She was reading and re-reading it. She was feeling warm… and happy.

Kokuo tried to ignore it for as long as he could, but in the end he gave in. He sat back and drank in her bright cheerful tune. He let her song fill him and resonate with his bones. For the briefest moment he was happy and warm too. For the briefest moment, the melody of her song weaved around him, awakening the echoes of a time long past, a time where he wasn't alone with only the stars for company.

The song faded. The Five tails let his head drop slowly to the cavern floor, his eyes having a slightly glazed over look. After a long long moment he sat up and shook himself. Hate and contempt rose up in him, drowning the last echoes of the Mizako song. That annoying pestering, nasty little insect! She had dared to come to him! She had dared to interrupt his meditations, she had dared to share her song with him, sullying the one true song.

He cocked an ear. Silence. She was quiet for now. "Good!" he thought in an irritated voice. "Now I can get back to a proper song! Now I can hear the beauty of the stars!"

He lay back down and listened and tried to enjoy it, but as he relaxed once again he could feel the gentle prickle of the mind of the Mizako... lurking, teetering on the edge of his consciousness. Alone in his lair, Kokuo closed his eyes, listening.

He would never admit it, but while the music of the stars flowed through him, he found himself holding his breath, wondering when the Mizako would sing again.


	19. Chapter 19

Epilogue 2, Tohru:

" _...And, and, and then after I become a kunoichi, I'm going to get real strong, and I'm going to go to Konoha and I'm going to find this Mizako!" sputtered the green eyed girl cub, babbling with energy that comes from being on the other side of exhaustion._

" _What are you going to do when you find her?" asked the cub's mother, her eyes twinkling with amusement in the starlight._

" _I'm going to ask her why she never went back to visit Tohru-sempai… 'cause, 'cause, 'cause, that was just mean! And, and, and then I'm going to go to the Hokage and tell him that he should let Mizako and Ay get married and have babies, because that was mean! And, and, and then I'm going to eat lots and lots of dango and ice cream! And you can't stop me because I'll be all growed up and a famous kunoichi! But I'll never ever never visit the dog clan. Nuh-uh!"_

 _The chatty little girl's twin stirred in her father's arms. "Mommy! Katy's being too loud! Tell her to be quiet! I'm sleeping!" she complained grouchily._

" _No you're not Kari! You're talking!" said the green eyed girl, the white lock of her hair shining in the reflected torchlight of the main gate. "And my name's not Katy! It's Katsuki! Say it right!"_

" _Your name should be 'noisy' you talk so much!" said Kari grouchily, sticking her tongue out at her sister._

" _I AM NOT NOISY!" shouted Katy / Katsuki at the top of her lungs. Various guards looked down at the family from the wall, and then went back to their business._

 _Her mother was trying very hard not to laugh. "Tell me Katsuki, why wouldn't you visit the Inuzuka clan?"_

" _Dogs are gross! They have fleas! They never take a bath!" The girl child shook her head vigorously. "And Uncle Warau told me they like to sniff each other's butts!" she said in a disgusted tone of voice. "And that's not all they do! They like to… Daddy?"_

 _Mother and child turned, looking at the Guardian of the Walls who had dropped behind. He was staring intently at the treeline. "Is something the matter?" asked the mother, clutching the hand of her daughter a little bit tighter._

 _He unceremoniously dumped a complaining Kari in his wife's arms. "I just remembered, I was supposed to check up on one of the second ring patrols. Start putting the children to bed without me. I'll be back as soon as I can."_

" _But, but, but… Daddy!" called out the little green eyed cub. Her father ignored her as he jogged off into the darkness._

" _Do not cry Katsuki," said the cub's mother soothingly. "Your father has a very important job. It brings much honor to our family." She looked up after the vanishing figure of her husband with a resigned frown on her face. "If that means that… other matters often take him away from us… then that is the way it has to be."_

* * *

 _The Guardian of the Walls jogged into the wood for about ten meters and stopped in front of a man, who was leaning casually against a pine tree for all the world to see. "It is most unwise for you to be this close to our village Orochimaru-sama," he said reproachfully._

"M _mm," hummed the sanin, to acknowledge that he heard, but his attention was fixed on the clearing that the clan used for storytelling. "So that was one of my 'three little kittens'... My my my… see how they have grown." The girl, Tohru was still next to the dead fire, singing an indistinct tune._

 _The Guardian stepped in front of Orochimaru, blocking his view. "I find it hard to believe that you came all this way just to look at the girl. We should go somewhere more remote… we don't want anyone to find you."_

 _With one hand Orochimaru gently pushed him out of the way of his view. "No one will find me here," he said in a confident voice._

" _Others could detect your presence… I did."_

" _Only because I let you," the sanin said with a hissing chuckle. Orochimaru turned and stared at the Guardian of the Walls, his slitted pupils widening in the twilight of the evening. "The girl's story… what did you think of it?"_

 _The Guardian gave a one shouldered shrug. "A little too fanciful for my tastes."_

 _Orochimaru grinned. "Every last word of it was true."_

" _Really?" the Guardian asked in a dismissive tone._

" _Quite so. It matches the intelligence that we were able to gather from the survivors." Orochimaru's tongue flicked out of his mouth in amusement. "The survivors, my friend… one small girl was able to annihilate the spider god! Imagine the power! Where did she get it, I wonder…"_

 _The Guardian gave a disinterested shrug. "The sealing priests of our homeland were forever battling and binding demons and deities. This is nothing new."_

 _Orochimaru pointed a finger in his face. "Oh no my friend, it is new. Your countrymen trapped the monsters, used them, tamed them, forced them to do their bidding… The Hokage's sister… she killed a deity!" He turned back to stare at Tohru. "They say that after the Five tails abducted her, she wielded this same power again… she battled one of the legendary tailed beasts to a standstill," he said admiringly._

 _The Guardian of the Walls tilted his head and studied the Sanin. "You're not here for the cubs… Your interest is with the other woman… this Mizako… Tohru's mother."_

 _Orochimaru laughed. "Danzo-sama's interest is with Mizako. I am merely curious as to where she got her power."_

 _The Guardian of the Walls tightened his lips. His mouth was a tight line. "And what does Danzo-sama want to know?"_

 _Orochimaru sighed. "The Namikaze girl worries away at him like a rotten tooth. He set up this major plot, with her at the center, only to have it completely fall apart when the Gobi abducted her. Now everyone insists that she perished, but there was never any body recovered. Inconsistencies like that bother him. I keep telling him she burned up, but Danzo-sama continued to hear faint whispers and began jumping at shadows...Then he comes across some report about how the Tsukuineko bond with people they have strong emotional ties with…" The Sanin looked at the Guardian out of the corner of his eye. "Hypothetically speaking, if Mizako-chan were still in the land of the living… Would the girl know?" he asked gesturing at Tohru gently weeping in the clearing._

 _The Guardian gave him a carefully blank look. "Possibly."_

" _Possibly?"_

 _There was a shrug from the Tsukuineko man. "Detailed clan information isn't easily parted with."_

 _Orochimaru waved a hand. "Yes, yes, yes… we will pay the standard amount… I've heard tell that once a bond is established, one of the Tsukuineko could sense another from half the world away… is it true?"_

" _It is, if the bond is a strong one, between mated pairs perhaps."_

 _Orochimaru grinned. Once again his tongue darted out between his lips. "Fascinating," he hissed eagerly. "So you and your mate would be able to…"_

" _It doesn't happen in every situation," said the Guardian quickly. "As I said the bonds must be strong… the strongest are the ones that form while the Tsukuineko in question are mating, that is true, but some matings have more passion than others."_

" _And what of the bond between mother and child?"_

" _A birth mother will always know where her cub is… always. In a case like Tohru's… It would depend on many things, length of time to establish the bond, the emotional attachment…" The guardian of the Walls shrugged yet again. "You heard the girl's tale as well as I did… What do you think?"_

 _Orochimaru watched the girl as she wiped away the tears and started to pick up her things. "I am inclined to think that Danzo-sama has lost his edge," he murmured. The sanin turned back to the Guardian and grinned. "Thank you my friend, you have been most helpful… in so many ways."_

 _The Guardian studied him carefully with hard flat eyes. "Explain."_

 _Orochimaru's head turned to follow the young lioness as she started back to the village. "Such a shame, there are so many interesting things I could learn from a specimen... or two."_

 _The Tsukuineko man shook his head. "Impossible. One of the side effects of Tohru's return and story is that all the cubs in the village are watched with heightened vigilance… You would never be able to sneak in and steal one."_

 _Orochimaru laughed. "Oh... I would never dream of doing anything as bold as that myself…"_

" _Good."_

" _I would find someone else... who was willing to do the task for me."_

 _Far away in the wood, an owl hooted. "I was under the impression that Danzo-sama wasn't interested in our clan anymore," the Guardian asked slowly._

" _He isn't," said Orochimaru gleefully. "He's focusing all his interest on the Hokage's wife and her pregnancy. Danzo-sama has dreamt up some elaborate scheme where snatching the Hokage's soon to be borne child will give him an opportunity to both control the Nine tails and dispose of Minato Namikaze in one fell swoop. He says he will finally sit in the Hokage's chair before the year is out."_

 _The Guardian tilted his head. "And what will you be doing?" he asked Orochimaru pointedly._

" _I'm thinking that I might benefit from working on a few… independent projects… for the time being… I'll still be a part of ROOT of course, but I'd like to see what I could create without all that bureaucracy and oversight." The Sanin clasped his hands behind his back and started to pace. "On top of that, Danzo-sama has lost a lot of his respect and influence during Minato's term as Hokage. He still has a great deal of wealth and commands a significant chunk of Konoha's power, but he is no longer the rising star he believes he is… Sarutobi-sensei and Minato saw to that." Orochimaru turned and looked at the Tsukuineko man. "A wise man who serves Danzo might start to think about other potential masters…"_

 _The Guardian was silent for moment, thinking. "I would consider passing on information... for the standard fee of course."_

" _Of course, but this project of mine would require much more than mere words and stories. How much for a live specimen? Ten times your usual fee? Twenty?" asked Orochimaru airily, as if he was haggling over the price of fish at a market._

 _The Guardian of the Walls slowly shook his head. "Anyone who dared would be judged the lowest sort of traitor. The whole clan would rise up against would be hunted down to the ends of the earth. Death would be a very slow and painful affair."_

" _A hundred then?"_

" _Not for a hundred thousand… I am sorry Orochimaru-sama, you cannot name a price high enough for this." The Tsukuineko man turned and started to walk away._

" _Your little family of snow leopards is facing quite the dilemma, is it not?" Orochimaru called out after him. "So few of you survived the fall of Uzushiogakure… It's no wonder the lions and tigers have managed to push you to the political fringes… soon even the panthers will have left you far behind them in terms of prestige and notability. If things keep on trending the way they are... why I suspect the snow leopards won't even be able to attain the largely symbolic position of the Guardian of the Walls anymore."_

 _The Guardian stopped in his tracks. "Danzo-sama has a dossier on me?" he asked in an icy voice._

 _Orochimaru smiled. "My dear fellow… Danzo-sama has a dossier on_ _everybody_ _… don't take it personally... Most of them aren't nearly as interesting as yours." He sighed theatrically. "It really broke my heart to read how you were putting such high hopes on this next generation of snow leopards... Pity about your daughters really."_

" _My daughters are fine."_

" _Your daughters are average," said Orochimaru, slowly stalking up behind the man, "completely and perfectly average. They never inherited your talent for seals. They are cute little nobodies who will grow up and grow old and die, without adding a single thing to the future of the Tsukuineko clan. The snow leopards don't need 'average'... If your family wants to climb back up the ladder of success, they need the next generation to make names for themselves," said Orochimaru smiling modestly. "I might be able to be of some... small assistance with that."_

 _The Guardian liked his lips once. "How?" he asked._

 _Orochimaru began to circle the Guardian, gesturing with his hands as he talked. "There is so much untapped potential within your bodies… The accelerated healing combined with the shapeshifting… Why, your kind would be the ideal test subjects for a whole host of little improvements I have been tinkering with for years!"_

" _What sort of improvements?"_

 _Orochimaru shrugged. "Enhanced strength, greater speed, increased stamina. An expanded chakra reservoir… and that's just to name the obvious ones! Imagine what other wonders I might be able to uncover with the opportunity of just a little study... Why the possibilities are endless!"_

" _And you could guarantee these… improvements?"_

 _Orochimaru grinned mirthlessly. "Nothing in life come with a guarantee… But with enough research before hand, I believe I could achieve a success rate of greater than ninety five percent in the final trial subjects… Just think of it," whispered Orochimaru. "A whole new generation of snow leopards… stronger, faster, more deadly than any of their fellow Tsukuinkeo… I wonder how high they would rise in the clan?" the Sanin leaned forward. "I wonder who they would look towards for leadership and guidance?"_

" _How many… subjects would you need?" The guardian asked slowly, as if hypnotized._

" _In theory? Only one, but the greater the numbers the greater the chances of success… three perhaps, just to be safe? But the more that could be obtained, the more of these 'improved' Tsukuineko there would be."_

 _The Guardian of the Walls was quiet for a long time. "I need to think on this," he finally said with the smallest quiver in his voice. "You should leave now Orochimaru-sama. I will send word to you with my decision on your… offer."_

" _Of course… Of course, I understand completely," said Orochimaru in a sympathetic tone. "I shall head back to Konoha right now and await your reply." Without another word the Guardian of the Walls spun on his heel and jogged back to the village._

* * *

 _Orochimaru was in a very good mood despite the long journey back to Konoha. "Like putty in my hands," he muttered happily to himself. He made a mental note to make copies of all of Danzo-sama's dossiers before he left the Hidden Leaf village. It was a abundant treasure trove of information… and information was the key in knowing how to open stubborn minds. Those documents would be very useful for a gentleman looking to start out on his own._

 _He knew that the Guardian of the Walls would get back to him. The man was too much like Danzo-sama: Starving for power, but too proud to admit it openly._

 _The Sanin shook his head in scorn. They all pretended to be so noble, so honorable in righting their wrongs… Orochimaru needed no pretenses. He only wanted to master every jutsu, to be the most powerful shinobi ever. That was it. No desire for lofty positions, no claims to be doing it all for the greater good._

 _It had taken years, but he was finally going to have his three little kittens to play with… with some luck, maybe there would be even more. Orochimaru thought about all the amazing things he would no doubt discover and couldn't help but laugh up at the starry night sky._

Fin


End file.
